Tag Archives: ontology

To Win The Argument You Must Lose Your God

“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning?” (James 4:2-5 NLT)

In context of me teaching about faith and prayer by quoting Vincent Cheung, I received an insane attack against this doctrine. Jesus was the most extreme faith teacher ever. He said if you ask for something, then you get it. Jesus said, You ask it, you get it. No word of faith preacher is more extreme than Jesus. He said this in many ways, over and over, as if He knew people would resist it. He said if you ask for a fish then you get a fish. If you ask for bread, then you get bread. If you ask for the baptism of the Spirit, then you get the baptism of the Spirit. This makes God a “good Father.” Jesus said in John 14 that if you have faith you will do miracles and even greater miracles. In chapter 15 Jesus said if you ask for anything God will give this to you and by this bring great glory to God, and then said the same thing in chapter 16, but then Jesus summed it up in a man-centered way saying, it will complete our joy. In places like Matthew 21:21 He said that with faith we can tell something like a mountain to physically relocate, or a tree, and it will “obey you.”

Billy responded by quoting James 4:3, “you ask wrongly with bad motives.” This means to Billy, we cannot always know if God will give us what we ask. To attack a so-called wrong “faith for anything” doctrine by quoting this verse is like trying to cure your headache by cutting off your head. To shoot your adversary with a nerf-gun, you end up shooting your face with a 50-caliber desert eagle. It doesn’t make any sense. To attack the doctrine of Faith you must become God’s enemy. Even if you win the argument, you lose your soul. You can never attack the bible’s teaching on faith and miracles without destroying yourself in the process.

Two main points. The first deals with the context of breaking God’s law, or ethics. People have a nubilous idea for what “wrong motives” mean. It is not an icky feeling in your heart. It is law breaking. There is a command somewhere in the bible and you are violating it. You cannot trick God with His commands. You cannot love your neighbor by helping them cut their grass, when you are secretly doing this to plot their murder. You did not find a loophole and trick God. No, the act of cutting their grass is sin for you. In essence you are lying or bearing false witness about yourself. Also, to love your neighbor as yourself, you want people to mean you well in individual acts and long-term goals. We are commanded to never lie and always tell the truth. Jesus commanded us to not commit adultery with our bodies or with our minds. The point, is that wrong motives has to do with a specific law of God and you are breaking it.

Thus, it is irrational to say we do not know if God will answer our prayers because “our motives could be wrong.” Because bad motives deal with specific acts of disobeying God’s commands, you can precisely and intellectually know if you are praying in good or bad motives. So, unless you are just born-again, you know God’s commands and so you know if you are obeying them or disregarding them. By this you can easily pray with good motives and know for certain your prayer is answered. Thus, for the Christian who knows God’s commands, this verse is a non-issue. It does not logically apply to them.

To say this verse applies to you, then you would need to admit that despite being a Christian for many years and reading God’s word for many years you have no idea what God has commanded and so you have no idea if you are praying for wrong things. Such a person has no business critiquing others about the doctrines of faith and miracles when they do not even know what God has commanded. I could care less what they say. And you should not care either. They should remove the redwood tree sticking out of their eye, before trying to remove a small speck from someone else’s.

But the context of James words makes this much, much worse. James mentions 2 things in particular: murder and adultery. Thus, when praying for wrong things he specifically means praying for God to help you kill your co-worker to steal their money and help you have sex with your neighbor’s wife. A person might not say it so directly, but this is what James mentions by name in this passage.

Obviously, if you ask God to help you sleep with your neighbor, then you are asking God to help you break a command of God. Thus, God will not answer your prayer. This is not a mystery or rocket science. There is a motive to break one of God’s commands, and then you ask God to help you with this evil. Sometimes it is hidden under another request. “God, give me a million dollars,” but in your heart you plan to use it on prostitutes. Or, “God, heal this girl,” but in your heart you want to win her over, so you can have sex with her. Even though you do not verbalize the law-breaking in the prayer, because it is your true intention, then they are a logical complete unit (like a Modus Ponens). It is a package deal, and so the whole thing is considered as a request to disobey God’s command. Thus a bad motive is simply the non-verbalized request to disobey the command of God, that you conveniently leave out of the prayer. If you are bold you say it out loud.

The second main point deals with James’ conclusion for this. He says you are either God’s friend or enemy. If you are saved, then you are God’s friend. You cannot both be reconciled to God and His dreaded enemy at the same time. Thus, for James to say you are God’s enemy is saying you are not saved. He says that people who pray like this are friends with the world, but in trade they are God’s enemy. That is, James is not talking self-examination to see if you are a weak Christian versus a mature Christian. No. He is saying examine yourself to see if God is your friend or enemy, to see if you are saved or a reprobate.

This is not the unforgivable sin. All sins and blasphemy, other than blasphemy against the Spirit, is forgivable. In moments of passion, we can say things under our breath that we are ashamed of. If you have committed this sin, it does not automatically make you a reprobate enemy of God. In a moment of insanity and burning passion it is possible for a Christian to cry out and ask God to let them sleep with person x, because they can’t take the pressure anymore. However, they can realize the horror of this, repent and not do that again. Let us say in their fight for sanctification they say it a few more times, but then they mature and get victory over their emotions. However, if a person does not repent and keeps this type of prayer going in a frequent way, then James is very clear. God is their enemy. They are not saved. They are a reprobate headed to hell. They have declared war on God. The specific details on answers to prayer is the least of their worries.

If you are asking for God to help you break the commands that He has given you, then you are God’s enemy. You are not His friend. This is James’ conclusion for people who pray like this.

I bring this up to show the insanity to use this against Jesus’ teaching, when He says we always get a fish for a fish. If out of 1000 prayers for healing, you said one that had a bad motive (I want this girl healed, so that I can win her over and maybe have sex with her), then the percent is so small it is not worth mentioning as an attack against, “we always get healing when asking for healing.” This is despite the fact we know God would not answer such a prayer, because it breaks a command. However, if your evil motives in prayer were so frequent that the percentage was enough to be a rebuttal against, “we always get healing when asking for healing,” then according to James you are God’s enemy and a reprobate. In order to attack faith and God’s promise you must become God’s enemy. To when the argument you must lose your God and your soul in the process.

The word of God’s enemy and a reprobate means nothing to me. Why would I and anyone care? Seriously, I would respect the word of an orange over an enemy of God.

We are done with the two main points for Billy’s comments; however, I want to quickly deal with good motives. Good motives are plans and requests to obey God’s commandments.

Jesus has already bore our sickness on the cross and by His stripes we were healed. Jesus healed all who came to Him. He did this to bless you and give you joy. To apply the gospel in your life, which is healing, is obedience. Thus, praying for healing is always a good motive. Not applying the gospel in your life is disobedience. Thus not praying for healing is always a bad motive. Jesus says if you have seen Him, then you have seen the Father. In fact, James in chapter 5 says if you are sick then you must have the church pray so that you can get healed. The prayer of faith will make the sick person get well. This is not a suggestion. It is a command. The command is not merely to pray, but to pray and get the result of healing. Thus, to ask for healing to obey God’s command to get healed is by definition a good motive, and it cannot by definition be bad.

How about money? Jesus says to seek His kingdom first and the “things the pagans seek after,” will be given to you. Have you seriously stopped and thought about what Jesus is saying here? The pagans seek big material blessings and prosperity. This is pagan-level-money-seeking. Jesus says, if you seek after righteousness and His kingdom, then these things will be given to you. He is saying if you want big money, then seek my Kingdom first, and then big money will be given to you. Think about the order of motivation He is laying out here. If your goal is pagan-level-seeking-money, then use the pursuit of seeking righteousness to get it. To ask God to help you seek His kingdom and righteousness, so that you can acquire the level of wealth the pagans want, is by definition a good motive, because it obeys Jesus’ command.

Some might call this “bad motives,” but they cannot do this without slapping Jesus in the face, because He said it, and He commanded it. There is much more to say about this, but this is enough to show what some define as bad motives is wrong.

The Demon Doctrine

“… some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and [doctrines of demons].
These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good..”
(1 Timothy 4:1-4 NLT)

It is interesting that Paul uses such harsh rebukes on a category that many would reserve charity and patience in their arguments. Paul considers this a category of demon doctrines, but many are kind and gentle with such people. Thus, they are kind and gentle with people controlled by demons, teach doctrines from demons and who has no more conscience left. We have never thought such a stance is biblical or intelligent. We agree with Paul those who teach such are to be rebuked sharply.

Most would understand if Paul said a person who rejects the resurrection or embrace wife swapping has a dead conscience and teaches a “doctrine of demons.” People tend to think such harsh rebukes are for those who deny major gospel doctrines, or who affirm we should embrace bigger type sins.

However, this is not what the bible teaches. These are not the rules Paul is following in his instruction to Timothy. The category Paul is using is about receiving material good things for this present life. Things that involve giving us pleasure to sight, taste, touch, and smell. Paul mentions doctrines as in plural. However, Paul does not give a comprehensive list, but does mention two things in the category of God giving good material things. The doctrine of demons is about telling people to abstain from good material blessings. Thus there more things that can be classified as a doctrine of demons, but not less than the specific category he addresses.

As just said, the category is about God giving us material things for this life that involve things giving pleasure to our 5 senses. Paul did not say God is giving us spiritual things like eternal life, forgiveness and relationship. We assume the food is good tasting food, otherwise it makes no sense. There is no temptation to say, “don’t eat rotten eggs.” Good food gives pleasure to many sensations and by this brightens the heart of man, as Ecclesiastes says in more than a few ways. Paul mentions if you lack self-control for sex, then get married. Sex is obviously about pleasure. Having a good relationship with your spouse and children is a full on joy to all your sensations and soul. The point is that the category Paul is referring to, has much to do with the material blessings of pleasure, joy and sensations.

When it comes to our relationship with God, it is not a religion of shadows, based on man’s sensations; rather, it is spiritual and intellectual. However, we are not talking about this, but God’s own good pleasure to give us good material pleasure and material things in this life. I will not harp on the fact these material blessings are included in the blessing of Abraham and secured for us by Jesus’ blood. Thus, health, wealth, good sex in marriage, good tasting food have Jesus’ precious blood sprinkled on them. To dismiss them is to dismiss the blood of Jesus.

Some might make the mistake to make this passage all about works verses grace. Or make it about a warning against Gnosticism. These could very well be involved; however, we would have to speculate since the passage does not directly state it; rather, what Paul refers to is more basic and rudimentary. The issue Paul brings is about the very nature of demons. This is like the difference between appealing to a specific promise of God versus appealing to God’s loving nature, to argue why we should pray and receive. Paul is appealing to the nature of demons. Paul does not give a specific appeal to people being led away by Gnosticism or “works vs grace.” No. The appeal is to demons. Now, demons might use specific errors, like the above, but this is not Paul’s main point. Paul says these people are lead by demons and teach doctrines of demons.

It is about the vile nature of demons. They want to you to suffer. The “nature of Satan” is to steal, kill, lie and destroy. Demons not only want you to suffer the torments of hell, but they want you to suffer in this present life. Acts 10:38 informs us that sickness is a major aspect for how demons what us to suffer in this life. Being sick destroys our ability to experience physical sensations of pleasure; it steals time; it steals our relationships; it steals our money and ultimately our very lives

Jesus says His nature is to bring us life, joy and abundance. In John 14-16 Jesus says similar things a few times over. One is that the same love that God put on Jesus is now placed on us. In the context of how much Jesus loves us (His nature) He says for us to ask for anything and receive it, and by this our “joy” will be full. Jesus healed over and over. He gave good tasting wine to a group of people who already empty the wine vats. It is obvious the miracles we ask often deal with the material world, and thus by them increase our pleasure in physical sensations in this present life. Jesus says He wants our joy to be full. In the gospels we know that being full of joy is more than just having our sins forgiven, but being healed of our sickness, raised from the dead, delivered from demons, delivered from storms, having extra good wine for a feast and having so much extra bread you have 12 large baskets left over. This is the nature of Jesus, and Jesus says if you have seen Him, then you have seen the Father.

The nature of demons is to make us suffer. Sometimes this is deceptive because it might be hidden under a layer of something that looks good at first look. Sin can be deceptive at times. It promises a pleasure, but in the end it leads to suffering and then death. The point is that the goal was always to cause us to suffer. This is the nature of demons. They want us to suffer now, and suffer later.

Therefore, a doctrine of demons is a doctrine that limits any good thing God has given us, either for this present life, or the next. The demon doctrine is to remove and restrict these material pleasures and eternal blessings and replace them with suffering, limitations and pain. Those who have teachings that limit or deny God’s health, wealth, favor, increase, miracles and heavenly powers, have aligned themselves with demons. They are liars and their souls are dead.

If a person’s soul is dead, are led by demons and teach doctrines from demons by merely suggesting we limit some pleasurable sensations for our bodies that come from food and sex, then how much more is it a doctrine of demons to deny and resist healing, miracles and the powers of the Spirit, which empower us to experience these good things 100 times more? How much more! And we haven’t even mentioned the horror of denying things like the resurrection.

If the people Paul mentioned were rebuked so harshly, then how much more should things like cessationism be rebuked. If they were led by demons, then cessationism is the very language of demons. If their doctrines were demonic, then cessationism is the very DNA of demons.

——–

Also, as a side note. Let no one rebuke you for harshly condemning people who limit faith and healing. They deserve the title of “demon doctrines” more than the people Paul was referring to. How can you say you are God’s friend and still hold the hands of people connected to demons? Harsh rebukes is the very least they deserve.

The Goal of the Gospel is Happiness?

You Bet It Is!

Someone spotted a church called “The Love Church” and pegged it as a seeker-friendly joint. I quipped it beats “Sad Church.” They fired back with conviction: happiness isn’t the gospel’s goal. Their evidence? An emotional roll call of extended family members—churchgoers all—wrestling with sickness, poverty, and troubles. “Sad Church sounds about right,” they smirked, implying it’s a fitting name for real life.

I could write a theological tome on this, but I’ll keep it short.

First, let’s zoom to the cosmic blueprints—God’s decrees (supralapsarian style). God’s intentions are pure positivity, not a divine Debbie Downer vibe. His original plan? Our joy, happiness, glory, and blessedness in Him. Justice comes first, then injustice. You can’t have a villain without something good for it to attack. God’s intentions are positive. They are positive for us first in the decrees. God’s heart is for our happiness. The gospel was predestined for our glory and happiness. Before we dive into specifics, happiness was already the gospel’s goal. All sunshine, no storm clouds.

Second, the “gospel” (even being declared righteous by God) is about our favor, glory, fame, prosperity, healing, miracles, empowerment by the Spirit, and inheriting the world through Abraham’s blessing. Sin didn’t even get a cameo in Abraham’s story. It was all positive, overflowing like a divine jackpot. Paul calls Abraham’s blessing—where he inherits the world, receives the Spirit, and sees miracles—the “gospel.” Not just for Abe, but for us too. This positivity would make health-and-wealth preachers blush for playing it too safe, shaming every church tradition for underselling the gospel’s joy.

We sinned against God. He brought the law 400 years after Abraham’s blessing-fest to expose our sinfulness. But Jesus arrived to seal both sides of the deal. He crushed sin by grace and ensured Abraham’s blessing flows to Jews and non-Jews alike, all by grace.

Happiness isn’t the gospel’s only goal, but it’s no sidekick either. In fact, forgiveness isn’t even the main event. Peter says forgiveness is the starting line, a springboard to the gospel’s true aim: being baptized in the Spirit for power.

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. THEN you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:39)

This Spirit-baptism for miracle power is what Paul calls the “gospel” in Galatians 3. Receiving Abraham’s blessing—healing miracles, financial windfalls, relational breakthroughs, and a whole miracle smorgasbord—fills us with happiness and joy. The gospel’s goal is absolutely happiness. Paul says Jesus became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) to secure this miracle-soaked joy. That means these blessings have Jesus’ blood sprinkled on them, nailed to that cursed tree. To say happiness isn’t the gospel’s goal is to spit on Jesus’ blood like it’s cheap wine, disrespecting the cross where His hands and feet were pierced. Those who scoff at the gospel of happiness can’t dodge their spit landing on Jesus’ nailed feet.

Let’s skip Isaiah 53 for now, where Jesus, our scapegoat, carries away sickness and heals us by His stripes. Healing in this life is as much the gospel as forgiveness. I’m not saying healing trumps forgiveness in importance, but both flow from the same atonement and resurrection. Slap one, and you slap the blood that bought them both. You can’t curse part of the gospel without torching the whole thing. If Jesus’ blood fails to spark our happiness, what hope does it have to forgive us? Zilch.

Healing alone, a gospel cornerstone, brings joy in spades. Jesus and Acts show people leaping with happiness, entire towns buzzing with “great joy” (Acts 8:8). Jesus Himself says His love brings abundant joy (John 14-17), tying answered prayers to overflowing happiness. We pray and receive whatever we want because of the gospel and Jesus’ blood. The gospel’s goal? Happiness, served piping hot.

David’s Psalms are a happiness playlist, praising God for constant healing, deliverance, and joy in the morning. God is David’s salvation and blessing, sparking loud, happy shouts of praise.

Those who reject the gospel of happiness reject the gospel itself. They’ve got itching ears for a different seeker-friendly church—one that whispers, “God won’t heal you,” or “It’s up to His will, so stay in the dark.” They hand out spiritual comfort blankets to keep you cozy in sickness, defeat, and depression. They make you feel excited when Satan is cockblocking you. A huge crowd seeks this message, craving comfort in their suffering. But they suffer like Israel in the wilderness—not for God’s glory, but for their unbelief and stupidity (we are too small and they are too big). They don’t suffer for the gospel under persecution; they suffer because they reject it.

They claim the gospel is for God’s glory. Duh, even demons nod at that. The real question is how God glorifies Himself through the gospel. He does it by making it a fountain of blessings and miracles, crowning us with glory (1 Corinthians 2:7).

As Gabriel Arauto quips, “If God doesn’t serve you with healing, miracles, prosperity, and happiness, He’ll become your executioner” (John 13:8, paraphrased).

The gospel of happiness isn’t just feel-good fluff—it’s got eternal stakes. Reject it, and you’re dancing on thin ice.

What God Ordains Is always Good

A woman was suffering with cancer asking for prayer on twitter, and a person responded with the Hymn called, “What God ordains is always Good.”

Satan’s little helpers are all over the place.

God ordained all things. True enough. Let us remember that God ordained for me to be born a sinner with a sinful nature (Rom 5). Thus, this is good. No, really, it is good by definition because God did it. God does tell us why He did it, (Rom.9), but this is logically irrelevant. Whatever God does and ordains is good. However, good “relative” to whom or what? If we are asking what is good on the ultimate level, relative to God, then anything God does is good by definition, because God did it. However, if meant relative to me, then good is defined as God’s commandments and promises. Relative to me it is about my obedience to God’s commands and acquiring God’s promises in my life. This is the only definition for biblical ethics. For me, good is defined by me understanding what is happening (what God ordains) and then find a command and promise that relates to it and obey it and make the promise manifest by my faith. Anything less than this is disobedience and rebellion against God. Disobedience is bad; it is not good.

In regard to being born a sinner, I cannot say, “What God ordains is always good,” and so,” because God ordained me to be born a sinner, thus it is good that I remain a sinner who hates God and loves sin.” We know if someone does this, they are making excuses for their rebellion. This is stating something God does and then irrationally concluding an ethic from it. No. God has both commanded me to repent and promised to save me if I call on His name. God ordained me to be born a sinner, but also told me what to do about it, by making His promise of forgiveness a reality in my life by my faith in Him. Jesus told me to save myself by faith in His promise of mercy.

The same with everything else. So, what if God ordained me to have a sickness? God ordains all things; tell me something I don’t already know. However, God has commanded (James 5:15) and promised (Isaiah 53:4-5) me to use faith and I will be healed. I cannot say, “What God ordains is always good,” and so,” because God ordained me to have this sickness, thus it is good that I remain in my sickness.” We know if someone does this, they are making excuses. God’s promise for healing is “good” and His command to be healed is “good.” Those who reject this are bad. You cannot use what God has ordained to invalidate God’s commandments and promises. Those who teach such, teach a doctrine of demons.

Don’t Speak to God, Speak to Your Problem About God

When Peter, (even after baptized with the Spirit), commanded the man’s sickness to leave (stand up), Peter did not speak to God about the problem; rather it was more like Peter spoke to the problem about God.

In the broad sense, a word of faith command like this, is just a shorthand way to pray without hedging. And because it is a prayer, you are aware God is listening to you and that you are using His authority and that you are standing on His promise.

However, in the most direct sense, these types of prayers are spoken to the problem, and not to God. Jesus did not say to “speak” directly to him about your mountain, “oh God, I am nothing and I need your help.” No, Jesus told us to “speak” to the mountain directly and tell it to get out of our way. Jesus teaches us that we already have His authority and His approval to pray like this and get powerful results. To command and get what we want. The fact many Christians do not pray like this, means they do not obey and do not understand their identity in Christ. They do not understand prayer.

So the lesson to learn here is this, when you have a problem you speak directly to it. It is not wrong to go to God in prayer about your problem, but Jesus has officially instructed us how to pray in such situations. It is like the sermon on the Mountain. Jesus is raising the bar for His expectations and command about how we pray and get results. Who am I to alter Jesus’ instructions?

Therefore, speak to your problems about God, telling them to throw themselves into the sea.

Sit At My Right Hand

Peter in Acts 2, during his Pentecost sermon mentions a few time this idea of “Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father.” Many people saw them speaking in tongues and wanted to know what is going on. And so, Peter’s main point is about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the doctrine of Jesus sitting on His eternal throne at the Father’s right hand is being connected with the baptism of the Spirit.

Peter mentions Psalm 16 and 110, which both speak of Jesus sitting at God’s right hand, as connected to Him pouring out the Spirit. Acts 2:33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.”

The Father promised Jesus a reward for completing the work He assigned Him on earth. This reward was Jesus ruling in authority from the Father’s right hand. Jesus would sit on the throne that He will be ruling from forever. From this position, Jesus was promised He could pour out the baptism of the Spirit on all those who call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Joel, 2:28-32). Peter quotes Joel teaching us that this is the age designated for anyone to call on the name of God to be saved and that He Spirit will be poured out for power. This happened because Jesus is now sitting on His eternal throne of power at the right hand of Power. From here Jesus pours out Power on all who ask.

The interesting point is Peter’s quote of Psalm 110. Peter directly connects this Psalm to Jesus pouring out the Spirit, as Jesus sits at God’s right hand.

“Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “”The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet,”” (Acts 2:33-35).

Peter quotes from this Psalm Jesus sitting at God’s right hand and Jesus’ enemies being made a footstool under Him. And this is in direct context with Jesus pouring the baptism of the Spirit, from God’s right hand. The Psalm goes on to say Jesus will rule over His enemies, crush them and pile up their corpses. Peter says this is connected to Jesus pouring out the baptism of the Spirit.

How is Jesus enemies going to be a footstool? Peter says it is directly connected to Jesus pouring out the Spirit on His people to empower them over sickness, demons, mountains and even other men (Paul and the Proconsul).

It is foolish to have any talk of eschatology and the advancement of the church over the gates of hell and human governments without this most basic teaching from Peter. Without this all talks of eschatology and governments is anti-Christian; it is anti-Jesus sitting at the right hand of His Father.

Memeing Yourself To Hell

How do people come up with this level of dumb?

Job was with wealthiest guy in the whole east area. He had all the family and money a guy could want. God orchestrated it, but then Satan destroyed Job for a short time. In the whole of Job’s life this trial was a small blip on the radar. After this trial, God gave Job double the wealth and double the health. He saw his kids to the 4th generation. Very long happy life. He was so filthy rich that He was able to give large inheritances to his many beautiful daughters. He was already the richest guy in the whole east area, now God made him double the richest guy. In the New Testament James categorizes all this “health and wealth” as God’s “mercy and compassion.”

Why is this a surprise? Under Jesus we have a contractual right to this health and wealth. If we have seen Jesus we have seen the Father. Jesus healed all who came to Him with faith. And remember all the extra left over from the feeding of the four and five thousand. So much extra. God answers our prayer exceedingly, abundantly and beyond what we ask.
Have you meet this Jesus and His Father?

The only way to make sense of this meme with Job, is if it said, “if God brings you into a trail and you come out victoriously by faith, then be prepared to experience double health and wealth for the rest of your long happy life.”

Extra Baskets Left Over #1

*1 But seriously, how Wonderful was Jesus to heal all those people, insuring so many did not die before their time. Hezekiah without faith would have died 15 years before his time.

Satan wants God’s elect to be in pain, and time constraint with sickness and then an early death. The goal is to have all that effort and time, which could have been spent in ministry, family, faith and miracles, to be choked and stopped. Medicine is often expensive, time consuming and painful, and often does not work. Satan loves this. But Mr. Wonderful has saved us, bore our sickness and defeated Satan. Faith in Him brings life, health and extra time to spend on ministry, with family and expanding His kingdom.

Jesus, the true Mr. Wonderful, has commanded us to be like Him, through faith and the baptism of the same Spirit He ministered under. Therefore, all who follow Him will also be Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful.

*2 When one first becomes a Christian a frequent experience can be a focus on what not to do in our obedience, or negative. We came from the world and need to change directions for many behaviors. This is a natural focus based on the circumstances. And yet, we still focus on faith and power to receive the full gospel promises, such as healing and miracles. If taught correctly we learned all the basics of faith and began to work on all of it.

However, Paul says a doctrine for mature people is about receiving all the free good things that God has given us (1 Corinth. 2).

Therefore, as one matures, the focus is on more positive behaviors. It is about taking off all limitations for what God is able to do in us through faith. We do not want God to accuse us for making His arm short. Also, we take off all limitations for what we can do with faith. We realize that moving mountains is the starting point of our ability and not the end. We focus on wielding God’s power as our own. We focus on more power, more healing, more miracles, more purity, and more fruitfulness in all that we touch. We focus on binding and unlocking things on earth, as we see fit. We focus on casting out devils and expanding the kingdom of God. We focus on asking for the biggest types of prayers we can think and receive them.

*3 “Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news,

and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.”
Matthew 11:4-6 CSB

Let us not be offended by Jesus healing people, and causing them to have great joy. Let us not be offended by Jesus healing all who came to Him. Let us not be offended by Jesus healing every single person who asked. Let us not be offended by Jesus raising the dead back to life, and causing their mothers to have great joy. Let us not be offended by Jesus preaching good news to the lowly.

Let us not be offended that Jesus healed, healed, healed and healed some more, rather than preaching the gospel more, or talking about sin or hell.

Jesus would not have said this, if there was not an issue of people being offended by Him healing so much.

He is not warning about being offended at His doctrine of sin or hell, but offended at Him freely giving so much good things to people with faith. This lines up with Paul’s definition in 1 Corinthians 2 that a message of wisdom for mature people is a message about freely receiving all the good things from God, and not a message about us sacrificing or giving. Immature and unspiritual people are offended at God freely giving good things. They are offended because they lack the intellectual aptitude and spiritual strength to freely receive healing, forgiveness, wealth and blessings for themselves. They then spend their time hindering God’s true children from receiving God good things out of spite and rebellion.

*4 The Bible would not condemn a pastor who heals the sick and casts out demons for not emptying out a hospital, any more than condemning Jesus for not healing all the sick in His hometown.

*5 The context of Paul saying a person is cursed if they reject the gospel he preaches (Galatians 1), is Paul defining the gospel (Galatians 3) as Jesus becoming our curse so that we inherit the blessing of Abraham. This blessing means the baptism of the Spirit and regular miracles. If someone rejects the baptism of the Spirit and miracles for us to experience now and regularly, then Galatians 1 would condemn them as cursed for preaching a different gospel.

It is traditionalist who use Paul’s doctrine of “preach another gospel and you are cursed,” to make it about justification by faith alone in grace, or to bash the health and wealth gospel. You cannot make this passage mean whatever you want it to mean. The context is not narrowly about forgiveness, nor is it about bashing miracles and speaking in tongues. Abraham was justified because He believed God would do miracles of healing, prosperity, fame, favor and excessive fruitfulness for him. Paul boils this down to “the Spirit and miracles,” and calls this the gospel that brought justification. Likewise, we are true children of Abraham and partakers of the same gospel (declared righteous by God) if we believe Jesus substituted our curses for the blessing of the Spirit (in context, Paul means the gospel of the baptism of the Spirit and miracles (Gala 3:5)).

*6 If demons do not scream with terror and the saints shout in joy for being healed, then your pastor’s righteousness does not exceed that of the Jewish leaders. If your church does not have regular miracles and healing, then it is not a biblical church; rather than a gathering of saints, its likely a gathering of demons. As Benny Hinn once said, “A pastor who does not cast out demons, is likely influenced by one.”

*7 If you look at yourself and don’t see a righteous soul, with the very righteousness of God, then you are without God and without hope.

If you look at your soul and don’t see God’s power and authority to cast out sickness and move mountains then you are without God and are still a mere human.

Update: Had people remind me that “our righteousness is like filthy rags.” The only way for this to be true, for you in the present, is if you are still unsaved. Our unrighteousness or filthy rags were already credited to Christ, buried with Him and in God’s mind they are no more listed on our record sheet. If your record still has unrighteousness on it, you are still destined for hell. Either Jesus already removed your unrighteousness and exchanged it with His righteousness, or you are still unsaved. When Jesus helped widows and orphans and honored God above all, these righteous acts are now listed on my data sheet (God’s mind) as if I did them. They were credited to my account, by grace, apart from the law.

I have the righteousness of God. When I look inward, this is what I see. When I look inward I see a perfect record and it is perfect; it is perfection; it is blameless; I see a perfect soul. Indeed, when I look inward, I see God’s righteousness blazing like the midday sun. I see light, light and more light shining. How can this be some might ask? I see what God’s sees and decrees. God has made my soul perfect. Who am I to disagree with my Creator?

God did not credit Jesus’ righteousness to Himself, but to me. The bible denies pantheism. Thus, they are now part of “my” righteousness. We do not lose sight they are freely given from God as a gift, but the fact remains they are now seen as “my righteousness.” This is how God sees me, and so this is how I see me. Faith is a mental assent to the truths that God has revealed. If you do not see yourself as 100% pure and with God’s righteousness as your own, you do not agree with God’s word and are still an unbeliever.

However, imputed righteousness makes us (according to Romans 5) reign and rule in life as kings. Jesus is not merely a substitute for unrighteousness for righteousness, but also the curse of the law for the blessings of Abraham. This blessing means constant miracles and healing now. If you cannot believe God will do these good things for you, then you are not a child of Abraham, and neither has God declared you righteous in His sight. God declared Abraham righteous in His sight, when Abraham believed God would do all the great favors, blessings, healing, prosperity and blessings God promised. What if Abraham said, “I believe you can make me famous, but I do not believe I will have a child.” God would not have declared him righteous if he did that. The promises were a whole packaged deal. Abraham had to assent to all of it as true, or none of it. The same with the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. You cannot have confidence God has declared you righteous if you only assent to some of Jesus’ substitution, but reject parts like healing, prosperity and fruitfulness. You cannot assent I am Oshea Davis, while denying I have a head. If you confirm this, I can say that you do not know me. It is a packaged deal.

*8 “Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?”
-Mark 8:17 NIV

Think about it. Jesus is rebuking them because they do not think in terms of the multiplication of material substance by faith. They feared a lack of food. And Jesus reminded them of the feeding of thousands by multiplying food in faith. When you have faith you don’t fear the lack of material substance because you should have faith to multiply it. This was Jesus’ rebuke. Jesus would rebuke us today for the same. We need to think in terms of faith and power.

*9 We have only 2 options. Either we blame God or we can blame our unbelief. Most choose to blame God and throw Him under the bus; they often disguise their disrespect under phrases such as “the will of God.” However for those who act like Christians and repent and correct their short comings in faith will find what they are looking for; they will see God single them out and praise them for their faith. He will say ” your faith saved you,” and “the mountain obeyed you,” and “I will give you more than you asked.”

God is not a liar. He says He will heal and give miracles if we believe. If there is a liar and unfaithfulness it is a man, not God. You cannot respect God without respecting His Word as true and by extension, His promises as the same. If He said it, He will do it.

*10 The friends of the paralyzed man brought him to Jesus for a miracle healing. It wasn’t his family but his friends who cared so much for him. Behold their zeal and love.

They did not bring him to a doctor but to God for a healing. They had to carry a heavy body through crowds and then up a house and lower him through a roof. This was not easy. Jesus publicly praised and admired them. God approved of their zeal and hard effort to bring their friend to get a miracle from God.

People demonstrate much time and hard work to get to the doctors, but only show 0.4% of the same time and hard work to get a miracle from God. God approves of faith that is not lazy but seeks Him until they get healed. He likes this.

Going to church is not working hard with faith. Corporate spirituality is not a necessary connection to faith. Hearing God’s word day and night, meditating on these and speaking these promises in faith does have a necessary connection to faith. There was a crowd but only the touch of faith received and others who were pressed up against Jesus did not. The work of faith is to believe you are healed with no fear that you will not get healed.

*11 When you must explain why certain actions to women and children are bad, it means you live in a society that does not even have a small Christian knowledge left in it.

When this is the case, you must address ethics from the presuppositional level, or you run the risk of talking over each other’s heads with irrelevance.

Christian ethics, or ethics that apply to reality, is God’s commandments. These are only known through God’s revelation, which is the scripture. They are only imparted to the mind by God, and not empiricism. There is no other foundation for ethics.

If we go by observation, we are only talking about descriptive premises (of metaphysics) of transient moments. To take this and conclude with “ethics” is always a category error, and would thrust such knowledge into skepticism. It is always a fallacy to make an “is” into an “ought.” But skepticism denies the law of contradiction and so it is false. Thus, it is false to say we get ethics from empiricism and observations. Blue is fast and 5 is a tree. This is no less a category error than saying we can observe ethics.

Christianity is the only place that the things needed for intelligence converge. Christianity is the only place that allows one to understand what an ethic is.

*12 God is the foundation of learning, not the limitations of man. Man-centered people judge reality by its limitations. As wicked as it may seem, they even judge God by their limitations.

Faith, however, judges what they are capable of doing by the ability of God.

*13 “And Abraham’s faith did not weaken,
even though, at about 100 years of age,
he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.”
Romans 4:19.

What weakens faith according to this passage? Doubt. Where does the doubt come from? The scripture tells us from considering the 5 senses and our observation is the source of doubt. When we are dumb enough to think like atheists and presuppose knowledge comes from what we see, feel, and tough, then doubt comes in, and doubt weakens faith.

*14 Jesus didn’t say preaching is the Logical proof of God’s kingdom breaking in, but demons being cast out by the power of the Spirit is proof of His kingdom.

God’s Kingdom is Power.

If you want to testify about kingdom power, you will need kingdom power to do so.

See Luke 11:20

*15 I Have the Power of God

6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Acts 3:6-8 LSB

It was God’s power that healed the man, but Peter does not play today’s religious games. Peter did not use flowery “Christ-centered” this and “God’s glory” that. “I am nothing, and so I beg you God that you might heal this man if it is your will. Not what I have, but Your power.” (LOL. How are people so blind as to think such a prayer honors God and is a sign of humility, is wall punching hilarious.)

God’s power healed the man, but Peter says, “what I do have, I give you.” He commanded the man to walk, then grabbed him and help the lame man up. And so, Peter had no issue claiming to have the power and authority of God; claiming to use it as he wants. Because the bible denies pantheism, then on the relative level, Peter is correct. He owned the power and authority of God to use at his disposal.

Yes, Peter did say “in Jesus’ name,” and this is part of our authority as believers. That is, we can use it when “we” want to. God gave this power and authority to us, not Himself. Peter possessed this power, and he was free to use it how he wanted. We are the same who are part of Jesus today. We have the same power, Spirit and authority. But it will take faith to use it.

*16 I Cast Down Troubles

Troubles will be formed against you, but they will not prosper against you, because you have defeated the world. Your faith in Jesus gives you participation in His victory.

Jesus did not command Himself to command the mountain to move; no, He commanded me to command the mountain to move. Jesus gave me His authority and righteousness. Jesus did not command me to pray and ask Him to move the mountain; no, He told me to command the mountain to move.. Most do the opposite and beg Jesus.

This is my inheritance and accountability to command troubles to get out of my way. How are weapons formed against me put down? By my command and words.

“But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Isaiah 54:17 NLT

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]”
John 16:33 (AMP)

“Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.””
Matthew 21:21-22 NIV

*17 In my experience, no matter how farfetched a heresy may seem, it almost always limits God. The only exception is if the doctrine directly takes glory that belongs to God and assigns it to man. Because God’s infinity, is well, infinite, and His sovereignty is direct and absolute, there is no bigger way to describe God and His ability than what the bible teaches. Take for example the Mormons teaching on us becoming a god and owning a planet. Despite what it might look like, this is a slap in the face of God by limiting Him. Only one planet? You got to be kidding me! Make it at least 100,000 planets, and then maybe the insult won’t be so bad.

God will not give up His praise, and we will never be worshiped as God, but God has highly exalted and glorified man in the gospel (1 Corinth 2:7, 3:22). In the next life there is no limit for good things God will give us. No man has seen or even considered how big it is. One planet. You might as well slap God in the face and be direct with your insults rather than play games like that. Reality, and even time itself has been given to me in Christ, and you want to limit it to one small planet. Only a brain the size of a pea could think so small.

The lesson here is that all liberal theology, whether it is cessationism, free will, one planet, evolution, directly attacks God by limiting Him and by limiting who we are in Christ and limiting what we are able to accomplish in Him.

The Power of the Lord was with Jesus

“The power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:17 NIV)

It was not Jesus’ power, but the power came from God, or more precisely the Father in the anointing of the Spirit. Jesus was baptized in the Spirit to begin His ministry. We know the Spirit’s baptism on Jesus was for “power” because Jesus said He drove out demons by the Spirit of God, not His. He did not drive them out by His name, but by the power of Spirit. We see again in our original verse that the “power of God” was with Jesus to heal. It was not Jesus’ power, but the Spirit’s power. Jesus came as a man, born under the law, and even ministered God’s power as a saint does, by the power of the Spirit. Jesus says in John 14:10 that “it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” Jesus did not use “Jesus” power and authority, but ministered the works of the Father through power of the Spirit.

Thus, after His resurrection Jesus commanded the disciples, not to minister or spread the news, but to wait in Jerusalem until they were baptized in the Spirit for “power.” It was the same baptism of power He had. It is like that of Elijah and Elisha and the passing of the mantle of power. Elisha received a double portion and Jesus in a similar way said anyone who believes in Him will do greater miracles (double portion). As a human, Jesus received the mantel of power by the baptism of the Spirit; He did the Father’s works by the Spirit. He was the forerunner. He showed us how to do it. He then ascended to heaven and handed the mantle of power to us, for us to complete the works of the Father. We are baptized in the same Spirit to do the same works of the Father, except for the work redemption. We are baptized in the same power of the Spirit to do even greater works, not because we are greater in ourselves, but because Jesus now sits on His throne and in authority directs us to expand His kingdom.

This is why it is dumb to say, “Well, that was Jesus, and this is us and so we can’t do what He did.”

Consider how generous He is with His power! He likes it when we ask for more of His Spirit and power. Ask!

Once a Prince of Heaven, Always a Prince of Heaven

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:-5-16

The immediate context of approaching God’s throne of grace for help is that Jesus can sympathize with our weakness and struggle against sin. This verse should be used to approach God boldly for all types of asking and help, but it is important to remember the immediate context. In our struggle to fight sin we are told Jesus sympathizes with us and commands us to boldly approach God’s throne for help.

This is important because when we do sin, or if we are still fighting a besetting sin, one major battle Satan will fight us on is boldly approaching God for help. When we fight sin, approaching God boldly is the #1 thing we need to do. Why. Only God can help. And Satan wants to hinder you from going to the only one who wants and can help you.

The temptation is from shame. You feel ashamed and so you do not want to approach God’s majestic throne with boldness, and yet, this is the most important thing for you to do. We must remember that our faith is based on God’s revelation not “feelings.” We must repent and by faith know we are forgiven.

We do not fix a sin by sinning more. The command is for us to approach God with confidence, with our heads held high, and ask for help. Because we are asking for help in a sin, some see God is angry and does not want to help. They think a correct application of “the fear of God” is keeping them from boldly approaching. Yet, our passage says Jesus sympathizes with us and will help us if we ask Him. Because it is a command, then to not boldly approach God for help is “not fearing him.” Any sin qualifies for “not fearing God,” because it is a violation of God’s command. God has intelligently thought of everything, and His command is simple. If you are struggling with sin, repent, but do not stop there; you must also boldly approach God asking for help and you will receive help.

You do not have permission to sit in the corner of your room in self-pity and whine and then approach God like a beggar for help. It is good to have godly sorrow for one’s own sin, but that does not excuse you from disregarding your identity in Christ when you approach God. A beggar is the definition of an outsider, but you have been redefined as an insider. You are always a prince of heaven, therefore, when you enter God’s throne room you always enter in as a prince, with your head held high. It is similar to the line from the popular book Narnia, “once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.” You have a new definition, given by God himself. It is final and permanent. Therefore, when you approach God, you always approach Him as a child of God, a royal prince of heaven, especially if you need help fighting sin. Let nothing hinder you from approaching God in confidence to receive His help.