The Price Was Too High:

Remember this post?  Well, it seems that the Holy Spirit just won’t let me stop thinking about this.  I think so often on how easy it is to fall back into unbelief and even though I know the scriptures and the promises in the Bible, if one doesn’t meditate on them and speak them out loud every day, even frequently a day, it’s so easy to just start to doubt if it will happen.  Yesterday, when I was giving myself a bit of a pep talk, I just “got it” again, and I want to share this with you, so that hopefully other people will also “get it” whether it is for the first time or a reminder just like I had to get again.

I think a lot of people have trouble believing that a lot of the scriptures in the Bible are promises for them.  I know for a long time I thought that one just cannot claim a specific scripture for yourself.  I thought that God’s will was different for every individual.  For example:  I thought that it was God’s will for some people to have children and that it was also his will for other people to never have children, and that we would never know on this earth why He would will it for some and not for others.

Then one day I started to learn the truth.  That God’s will is the same for every person on earth, and that God only wants all that is good for all of us, and that He wants to give us the desires of our hearts (if they are good desires off course).  I learnt that God has no favourites, and that it is not a case of that some people are getting blessings and others don’t. (Acts 10:34 (NIV): “³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism.” Romans 2:11 (NIV): “¹¹ For God does not show favouritism.”)  God treats us all the same and He wants to give all of us the same blessings.  If I got fewer blessings than others it was not God’s fault, because He made it all available to me, but the problem was with me for not receiving it.

When God speaks there is incredible power in His words.  For example – In Genesis we see that God spoke everything into creation.  Genesis 1:3, 6, 9 (AMP):  “³ And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.  ⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below] from the waters [above].  ⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into one place [of standing], and let the dry land appear. And it was so.” 

All it took was God’s words and everything in the whole cosmos was created.  And not only that but God’s Words cannot return to Him void, (Isaiah 55:11 (KJV): “¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”) and that means that once God has said it, it cannot go back to Him until everything is accomplished of what it had to accomplish.  (To get a better understanding of this read this post.)  So for instance if the Bible says in Exodus 23:26 (NIV):  “²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span,” then God’s word cannot return to Him until there is no more infertility or miscarriages on this earth. 

Then there is the importance of the covenants in the Bible.  They were like binding contracts, but those contracts were made by the spilling of blood.  In the Old Testament there is an example of one where God made a covenant with Abraham.

Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-21 (NIV): “God’s Covenant With Abram: 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. ² But Abram said, O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? ³ And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir. ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. ⁵ He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars— if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. ⁷ He also said to him, I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. ⁸ But Abram said, O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?

⁹ So the LORD said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. ¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. ¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking brazier with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Abraham had trouble believing the promises of God so the fourth time God promised him an heir and land God made a covenant with him, and the way to do it was by cutting animals in half and arranging them opposite each other on the ground.  That was the custom of the day, but the custom was for the lesser, or younger party to walk between the sacrificed animals and to do that meant that the person was willing to be cut in half, just like the animals, if he could not keep his part of the covenant.  In this case God was the one who moved in between the animals, even though he was NOT the lesser party, just so that Abraham could believe that His promise would come to pass.  Well, we know off course that God’s promises all came true and that Abraham was richly blessed not only with his promised son, but also other children, lots of land and incredible wealth. 

Galatians 3: 6-9 (NIV): “⁶ Consider Abraham: He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. ⁷ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: All nations will be blessed through you. ⁹ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Paul says here that everybody that believes in God is a child of Abraham, and because we believe we will be blessed just like Abraham.  But do you know what?  We have something that is even better than the blessings of Abraham, even though they are awesome enough as it is.

We have the New Covenant that God made with us.  How did he make this Covenant?  By giving His Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrifice, by shedding the precious blood of Jesus, so that we can believe His promises for us.  Now think on this.  If Abraham was so richly blessed because of the covenant that God made with him, and there the sacrifice was a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove and a pigeon, how much more shouldn’t we be blessed because HE GAVE HIS SON – JESUS CHRIST as the sacrifice, as a promise that He will keep His word.

I remember, every time when I read the story where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, I thought – how can he do that?  He waited so long for his son, but even if he never waited, it must be impossible to give up your child!  Now that we have baby G, I still cannot fathom how Abraham could have gone out, ready to sacrifice his son.  To think what God did for us is so much more than what He asked of Abraham, because Jesus 1. WAS sacrificed and 2. the full wrath of God, all the punishment for every human being of all time, came down on Him.

Yesterday I realized that Jesus’ sacrifice was too high.  God gave more than what was necessary, so that we can have his promise, better than a promise, a covenant, a contract, bought with the blood of Jesus, that He will keep His Word, and that we will get what He promised us.  There is no reason why God would not want to give all His promises to us.  The price was too high!  Just try to imagine – He gave up everything for us, why wouldn’t He then give us all He has promised?  Imagine if you had to make a huge sacrifice for someone and for some reason that person did not receive what you gave them?  You certainly would not want to with hold whatever you were going to give, after you’ve already made that huge sacrifice!

Can you see how much God loves you? How much He has sacrificed for you?

Please understand God wants you to have every single promise He has made in His word.  I want to post some more posts in the next few weeks that explain how we are made righteous in God’s eyes, even though it might not feel that way and that we may think we don’t deserve His blessings, that God is gracious towards us, and that means that we get undeserved, unmerited favour from Him, and how to actually receive from God.

I hope this will bless someone.

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Just a reminder for you:

I read these verses again this morning in my Bible study:  2 Corinthians 1:19-20 (NIV):  “¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not Yes and No, but in him it has always been Yes.   ²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. And so through him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God.” 

Another verse I read this weekend in a book I’m reading, that goes well with the one above is:  Numbers 23:19 (NIV):  “¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?” 

For someone who has experienced receiving some of His promises these verses mean so much and one of my heart’s desires is that everyone who is hoping and wishing for a baby or healing can experience the same thing – because that is also what God wants for EVERYONE!  How do I know it is for everyone?  Because of Acts 10:34 (NIV):  “³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism.”  God wants the same things for all of us, because he does not show favouritism to anyone.

I know so many people don’t know what God’s will is, and I just want to remind everyone who is reading this to know the truth as it is written in God’s word.  Please know this is applicable to every single person on earth – it is freely available to you and all you need to do is reach out and receive it.

So what are God’s promises for everyone?

Promises of a family:

Genesis 1:28 (NIV):  “…Be fruitful and increase in number…”

Exodus 23:25-26 (NIV):  “²⁵ Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away  sickness from among you, ²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

Deuteronomy 7:13-14 (NIV):  “¹³ He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land— your grain, new wine and oil— the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.    ¹⁴ You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.”

Deuteronomy 28:1-4 (NIV):  “¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.    ² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: ³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.    ⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock— the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.”

Psalm 92:12-15 (NIV):  “¹²The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; ¹³ planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  ¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, ¹⁵ proclaiming, The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Psalm 113:9 (NIV):  “⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.   Praise the LORD”

Psalm 127:3-5 (NIV):  “³Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.    ⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.    ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate”

Psalm 128:3 (NIV):  “³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots round your table.”

Isaiah 60:22 NLT :  “The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation.  At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

Malachi 3:10-11 (NIV):  “¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  ¹¹ I will prevent  pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the LORD Almighty.”  (“Cast their fruit before it’s time” refers, of course, to a miscarriage.” Supernatural childbirth – Jackie Mize)

1 Timothy 2:15 (NIV):  “¹⁵ But women will be saved through childbearing— if they continue in faith, love and holiness with  propriety.”

God wants to give:

Philippians 4:19 (NIV):  “¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Matthew 18:19 (NIV):  “¹⁹ Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

Psalm 37:4 (KJV):  “⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Ephesians 3:20 (NIV):  “²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at  work within us,”

John 15:7 (NIV):  “⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

John 16:23 (NIV):  “²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

1 John 5:14-15 (NIV):  “¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.   ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us— whatever we ask— we know that we have what we asked of him.”

Isaiah 61:7 (NIV):  “⁷Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.”

Job 42:10 (NIV):  “¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.”

Zechariah 9:12 (NIV):  “¹² Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.”

Luke 1:45 (AMP): “And blessed (happy, [a]to be envied) is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.”

John 20:29:  “… Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted and relied on Me.”

Healing Scriptures:

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV):  “²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV):   “ ⁴Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.    ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Jeremiah 30:17 (NIV):  “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”

Jeremiah 33:6 (NIV): “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.”

Exodus 23:25-26 (NIV):  “²⁵ Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, ²⁶ and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

James 5:14-15 (NIV):  “¹⁴ Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”

Acts 3:16 (NIV):  “… It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.”

Isaiah 58:8 (NIV):  “⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”

Malachi 4:2 (NIV):  “² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”

Psalm 107:19-21 (NIV):  “¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.  ²⁰ He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. ²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.”

Proverbs 3:7-9 (NIV):  “⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Isaiah 6:10 (NIV):  “… they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 19:22 (NIV):  “²² … They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.”

Isaiah 38:16 (NIV):  “¹⁶ Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too.  You restored me to health  and let me live.”

Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV):  “¹⁴ Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.”

Other Promises of God:

Luke 18:27 (NIV):  “²⁷ Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Mark 10:27 (NIV):  “²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Philippians 4:13 (NIV):  “¹³ I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

Psalm 37:4 (KJV):  “⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 139:14 (NIV): “¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV):  “⁹ However, as it is written:  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him—“

1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV):  “¹⁷ But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”

Romans 15:13 (NIV):  “¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV):  “¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Psalm 103:8-14 (NIV):  “⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  ⁹ He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger for ever; ¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.  ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; ¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

Ephesians 3:16 (Amp):  “¹⁶May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].”

Philippians 1:6 (NIV):  “⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

He helps you to defeat the enemy:

Romans 16:20 (NIV):  “²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

Isaiah 54:17 (NIV):  “¹⁷ no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

Luke 10:19 (NIV):  “¹⁹ I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

Matthew 16:19 (NIV):  “¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18 (NIV):  “¹⁸ I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Do not fear:

1 John 4:18 (NIV):  “¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV):  “⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV):  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”

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Taking responsibility:

Last week Saturday I went with 3 other people on a street outreach.  What we do is go into the inner city of our town and hand out tracts, Bibles and speak to people in the street and try to help those who need help.

We came across some people who were in terrible circumstances and referred most of them to the shelter in our town that is managed by a group of churches from different denominations.  It is from this same place that we have the feeding scheme, they hand out food packages, there is an overnight shelter for the homeless, facilities to bath and wash your clothes, they hand out clothing and blankets to those who are in need of it, they shelter women and children who need to get away from abusive family members and they have people who draw up resume’s and they try to find work for all the resume’s they have.

I want to talk about the last couple we came across just before we went home.  They were both elderly, but how old exactly is difficult to say because they really looked bad.  Like beggars, or bums, but they were not entirely homeless.  They live in a wooden hut in the back of what was once a normal stand with a house on it, but the house has been converted into a commune and a lot of small rooms have been built on the stand and there must be at least 20-30 people living there, if not more…

I came to them a bit later than the rest of our group as I talked to a young boy of about 8-9 years first, but when I came closer all I could hear was a lot of screaming, shouting and swearing.  All coming from this couple and they were shouting at the other 3 people of our group. 

“I don’t want to hear anything from this God of yours!  I don’t believe in God!  God is not good, how can He be good if He caused the Tsu.nami in Ja.pan!”  They kept shouting things like that, on and on.  Eventually I was able to get a word in edgewise just to say it wasn’t God that caused all these bad things.  That got their attention, when I said it was all caused by the devil, the man started shouting louder again.  They were upset and mad at God for being in their terrible circumstances.  They were blaming everybody they could think of for the situation they were in, God, the president, the government, us, Christians in general, everybody except themselves.

It was obvious that they were drunk.  The man more than the woman, and it was just before noon.  Eventually we were able to talk a bit with the woman, but the man kept on swearing and shouting.  We women just ignored him, and the man in our group said later he was standing there praying silently.  We asked the woman if she knew about the feeding scheme as they said they were hungry.  They did, they were there once, but they are mad because they say one of the men who volunteer there said he would pick them up and bring them every day as they think it’s too far to walk as they both have problems with their feet, but he never came.  I don’t know what the situation was, I know this man, I haven’t spoken to him about it, but I cannot imagine he would promise that as he is not there every day.  He is a business man who volunteers when he has a chance.  The other days of the week he attends to his business. 

After speaking to this woman for a while one of the ladies with us (H), realized she knows this woman.  H has been helping out the people in our inner city for years now and it was her idea to start the shelter, and with the help from some other people and different churches they were able to get it started less than a year ago.  She was involved with other Christian organizations years ago and this woman used to work for one of these organizations that used to hand out food packages to those in need.  She was fired though because she stole the food packages and sold it to buy alcohol.  This woman did not admit this, H told us about it later.  She and H talked about people they used to know and we eventually left promising to bring them food and some shoes.  H took it to them about 30 minutes later.

All afternoon I kept on thinking about these people.  They were in a terrible situation, I agree with that, but they weren’t the worst off I have ever seen.  Both of them receive a small state pension, and they should be able to pay rent for the wooden hut with it and buy some food and clothes at least.  I have seen a single mother with 2 children live in similar circumstances, and the only income she received was the same small state pension, that this couple earns, but because she is one person she gets half of what they do, and with that she had to pay rent, buy food and clothes for 3 people, and pay school fees.

The husband kept shouting at us, “Why don’t you go buy me some bread, I’m hungry!”  He is expecting others to give things to him.  He doesn’t ask, he demands, and I wasn’t with when H took them their food and the shoes, but I wonder if he even said thank you.  They live about 1 kilometre from a place that will give them food and clothes for free, but they do not make use of it, because they refuse to walk there.  I looked at their feet, and to tell the truth I could not see much wrong with them, except for them being dirty… 

They have an income, their rent should be less than half of their income and they should be able to afford food, but they are hungry, and drunk.  The closest shop that sells alcohol is further away than where we hand out food, and I wonder how they get hold of their alcohol.  It seems alcohol takes preference above food and clothes. 

It may sound like I’m being judgemental here, but I’m not – I’m stating what I saw and heard.  My heart aches for these people that they are in this situation, but the thing that is the worst for me is that it is all so unnecessary.  They don’t have to live like that, but to change it they will have to stop blaming everyone else and start to take action and responsibility for themselves.  We can try to help them, but somewhere they must try to help themselves too.

I think it’s because their situation was so bad, and how much their lives that have been messed up, that made me see how we give power to the devil to do bad things to us.  It’s not so easy to see your own mistakes.  It felt like my eyes were suddenly opened and a lot of things that I have learnt just suddenly came together.  I could see clearly how these people’s sins, their attitude, the words they say, their actions, their drinking, their unforgiveness, their fear, strive in their lives, how all of that gave power to the devil and how they allowed the devil to do a lot of bad stuff to them. 

All they think off, is that God is doing it all to them.  They don’t know God and that He loves them, but that is something I have learnt.  God just wants what is good for us; He wants the best for us.  God loves all of us, so much, that He paid the ultimate price, so that we can come to Him.

John 3:16 (NIV):  “¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV):  “¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

They don’t know that God does not punish us, because Jesus took our punishment upon Himself on the cross.  They don’t know that God is not like a human parent – who is fallible.  Humans punish each other, to teach someone a lesson, but God does not work that way.  God does not even allow bad stuff to happen us, we allow it!  That is what they did – by her own actions this woman lost her job, and probably by their own actions of drinking they also can’t get another. 

I wrote a post a while ago about fear and how that give the devil power to do things to you.  But we give the devil power in other ways too, like I mentioned earlier.  God has given us the 10 commandments for our own good, not just because He wanted to impose rules on us.  All of those commandments are there for a good reason.  So the reason God does not want us to sin is because it is bad for us.  Through sin we allow bad things to happen to us.  It not so that God can punish us when we sin.  

Even other things like forgiveness are there for you and not for the other person.  If you have an unforgiving heart you do yourself damage, most of the time the other person doesn’t even know you are mad at them!  Jealousy and envy make you feel bad, it eats into you and can make you a nasty person no-one wants to be around.  It doesn’t do any harm to the one you are jealous about, unless you act upon that jealousy.  But most of us don’t act upon it – we just let it simmer inside us. 

I still haven’t worked out exactly how it works in my own life.  I don’t have all the answers yet, for instance, I still haven’t figured out how I gave the devil the power to kill our babies and cause my miscarriage, like I said it’s not so easy to see your own faults, but I do realize that it must have been my fault.  I know it’s not God’s fault because God wants to bless me and love me.  I have learnt so much about who God is and what He wants for us, that I know it cannot be Him. 

Actually the opposite of what I’ve told you is also true.  If we live obedient lives it cannot go bad with us. 

Colossians 3:12-15 (NIV):  “¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.   ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Deuteronomy 28:1-4 (NIV):  “¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.    ² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: ³You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.    ⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock— the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.”

Psalm 91:9-15 (NIV):  “⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, ¹⁰ no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.   ¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; ¹² they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  ¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.  ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  ¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

Isaiah 54:17 (NIV):  “¹⁷ no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

Psalm 37:4 (KJV):  “⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Now, don’t you rather want what the last 4 scripture’s promises?  I know I do, and now since I’ve seen this situation, it’s much easier to resist temptation.  I just think of the bad things I might be allowing, and the blessings I’ll be losing out on…

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Actively Receiving:

I cannot believe how faithful God is.  I’m not sure why I’m surprised, but I must say God has done some awesome things for us recently!  We are seeing things materialize that we have asked for and that is just awesome!  I read this scripture yesterday and I realized that I have asked and God has provided answers to my questions!  He is so awesome!

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV):  “⁷ Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” 

I remember as a child my grandmother (my mom’s mom) always used to say, “Zoek en gij zult vinden,” which is Dutch for “seek and you will find.”  I didn’t realize then that she was actually quoting scripture to us, she used to say it to us a lot if we were looking for something, and I must say I have been irritating DH with that saying ever since we’ve know each other.  Every time DH is looking for something I say, “Zoek en gij zult vinden,” mostly because I hear my grandmother saying it in my head, but I never realized how God will use that regarding His Word!  I have asked, and received; I have looked and found what I was looking for…

Do you realize what the first part of verse 8 says?  Everyone who asks receives!  Wow, that is wonderful!  Everyone! Now I am fully aware that a lot of people will say, “But I haven’t received what I asked for!”  That is not God’s fault.  I’ve mentioned in my previous post that the devil can’t stop God, and that is because he was defeated by Jesus.  The devil has less power than God, and the only power he has is what we give to him.  I’m sure some people will not like what I’m saying, but to be honest, I don’t care, because sometimes we need to hear the truth.  It is time we take responsibility for our problems and stop blaming other people, our circumstances, the devil, or whatever excuses we like to think of…

I have touched on the fact of there being a spiritual world and a physical/natural world in this post, where the angel of the Lord told Daniel that his prayers were answered immediately in the spiritual world, but that it took time to manifest in the physical world.  With the help of mostly An.drew Wom.mack’s teachings I have realized that I need to receive the answers to my prayers in the physical world too. 

Now if you don’t believe there is a spiritual world I’ll prove it with Scripture.  2 Kings 6:15-17 (NIV):  “¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Oh, my lord, what shall we do? the servant asked.  ¹⁶ Don’t be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.  ¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, O LORD, open his eyes so that he may see. Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha.”

The King of Aram wanted to capture Elisha, and they surrounded the city where Elisha was.  When they woke up the next morning the servant of Elisha was afraid, because all he could see was the physical world and to him it seemed to be a terrible situation that they were in.  Then Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes were opened to the spiritual world and he could see multitudes of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.  Their situation was not lost, even though it seemed to be so initially and we also need to learn that things might not be the way we perceive them. 

If we pray and ask for something, and it is according to God’s will and we pray in faith, God will give it to us.  How do you know what is God’s will?  Well, what does God say about it in the Bible?  The best is to pray God’s Word, and then you will sow God’s word as a seed.  If we sow the seed of God’s Word, and we believe those words, we will harvest those promises.  It will first appear in the spiritual world, but we need to receive it in the physical world. 

God’s Word must become real to us; we must know that it is true.  I almost want to say we mustn’t believe anymore, but it must be so much part of our reality that we know that what God says is true and that it will happen.  We mustn’t let our circumstances dictate what we believe anymore.  Even if things might not look good, we mustn’t let it affect us, because we must know that in the spiritual world God has made it happen already and that it is up to us to let it happen in the physical world.  Sometimes, like in Daniel’s case there might be demonic opposition, and then we must pray that God will deal with that on our behalf. 

God’s words are extremely powerful.  We must use them – God’s Word is one of the weapons of the spirit:  Ephesians 6:13-17 (NIV):  “¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Mark 11:23 (NIV):  “²³ I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

Look at the above scripture.  I always heard:  If you do not doubt but believe, whatever you ask for will happen.  What I only realized recently was that Jesus says here, “if anyone says to this mountain…” and “…what he says will happen…”  It’s not just about believing and not doubting, it’s about saying God’s Word too!  That is how powerful God’s word is – saying it aloud can make things happen! 

This receiving that I’m talking about is not a passive act – something that just happens to you.  That is what I always thought it was, but it has not happened that way in my life.  Joy.ce Me.yer had a message about receiving blessings a while ago and there she used Jacob as an example and here you can see receiving is something you must actively do:

Genesis 32:22-30 (NIV):  “Jacob Wrestles with God  ²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.  ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.  ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.  ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.  ²⁶ Then the man said, Let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, I will not let you go unless you bless me.  ²⁷ The man asked him, What is your name? Jacob, he answered.  ²⁸ Then the man said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.  ²⁹ Jacob said, Please tell me your name. But he replied, Why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there.  ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

Jacob was a trickster, a liar, a thief.  He was not a very good person.  He tricked his brother out of his birthright, and had to flee for his life.  But at one stage he decided enough is enough and he would return to his land and his brother.  He could not take it anymore – he had enough of the fear and being in exile. So he decided to return and bring gifts to his brother in the hope that it would appease him.  On the way there Jacob took everything he owned and all that was dear to him and sent it across a stream called the Jabbok. 

Jacob stayed on the other side and during the night he wrestled with God.  Isn’t it weird to see that Jacob insisted that God bless him?  I don’t think I could have been so bold.  He was a bad person – how could he insist on it?  I would feel that way, that I don’t deserve blessings.  Yet that was what Jacob did and he actually received those blessings!  He didn’t walk away unscathed, but he did receive his blessings. 

Jacob’s story just shows how wonderful God actually is, he did not deserve the blessings, and because he was bold, he still received them.  God loves us so much that He does not give us what we deserve (punishment), Jesus took that upon Himself, but He gives us through His grace and mercy, what Jesus actually deserves (blessings).

So from now on I am going to be actively receiving God’s blessings, all He wants to give us and everything I have asked for…

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How God’s Word works:

For those of you that watched the Indescribable video’s of Louie Giglio that I posted a few days ago, you will notice that some of the following message is similar to what he said.  The message I want to share is from Curry Blake though and I’m quoting from the KJV today because that’s what he used:

Curry says that:  “The power of God is mechanical.  It makes people mad when I say that, but I’ve found that to be true.  Let me give you an example:  When you woke up this morning, our clocks are set on the sun, so you think that God had to get up this morning and say:  “Ok, sun – do it again.  No, because He set it in motion.  He spoke it once and it’s for ever good – until He changes it. 

God said one time (according to the Hebrew):  “Light, be!”  And the next verse says:  “and light was”.  Think about this.  He said it once and yet it’s going constantly – He didn’t have to get up every morning and do it all over again.  Do you realize that even science tells us that light is expanding, not necessary equally but in all directions at roughly 186 200 miles per second (speed of light)?  God said:  “Light be”.  What was first?  The Word – He said it, light became and it says in Isaiah 55:11 (KJV):  “¹¹So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” He sent His Word out and it will accomplish what it must accomplish – it will not return unto Him void.  Do you know why light is still expanding?  Because there is still void out there, it can’t turn around and come back until it’s filled all the void.  Has His word returned back to Him?  No, because light is still going.  Think about it!  He said it once, but it’s still travelling – isn’t that right? 

He said in:  1 Peter 2:24 (KJV):  “²⁴ ….by whose stripes ye were healed.”  Why do you think He has to say it again for you?  He said it once – it is still out there – is everybody healed?  No!  Theoretically Jesus bought it, but has everybody experienced it? Then it is still out there going – it can’t return until everybody is healed, or His word will return unto Him void!  When Jesus said on the cross:  “It is finished” – means it is finished!  Why do we think it is not finished – that Jesus must still give us an ok!

Another example:  When Moses struck the rock twice:  What did he want to get?  Water.  Did he get it?  Yes, but what did it cost him?  He could not enter the Promised Land – when Moses struck the rock in disobedience it was an outright sin that cost him dearly.  According to our theology if it’s not the will of God the miracle will not happen.  But the fact is that Moses, in an act of sin, still got his miracle – that’s called mechanical. It did cost Moses, because of the sin.  I’m telling you, your parameters are a lot bigger than Moses’ was, because of the New Covenant (See here for more information on the New Covenant)

So why do you think that whenever Jesus said in Mark 16: 15 (KJV):  “¹⁵ And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”, that that only lasted for a certain period of time?  It didn’t, right?    You know it’s funny, everyone will admit we have the great commission and if we have the great commission then everything with the great commission goes with it!  Mark 16:15-18 (KJV):   “¹⁵ And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  ¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.  ¹⁷ And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Think about this:  No army in the world, no general in his right mind will send in a crack trained troop of soldiers, someone that goes in and just kicks the heck out of the enemy, I mean he just beats them every time he turns around, and then he turns around and then pulls him out, after he’s just slapped the enemy around an then sends in the B-team, with no gifts, no weapons, no tools, nothing and says:  “Alright, I’m going to leave, you all mix it up and I hope you last…”  No!  That makes no sense!  That would be like me picking a fight with someone big, slap them around and then stick my little son, a small child, in there and saying:  “Well, I hope you can handle it!”  He will tear my son up!  So what am I going to do?  If I’m a responsible father I want to give my son everything he needs to take care of the situation, even if I’m not there to do it!  Isn’t that right?  I’m going to train him, give him tools, the weapons and tell him every secret I know about the enemy to help him win.  That’s what God has done!  He didn’t take away anything.

The Word of God is settled in heaven, we must settle it on earth.  Psalm 119:89 (KJV):  “⁸⁹For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”  How long is it settled in heaven?  Forever.  Will there ever be a time that God’s Word is not settled in heaven?  No!  So it’s settled – there no changing, am I right?  So as it’s said – right now that’s the way God sees it and said it, right?  So He is not going to change for me or you or any situation we come into contact with.  Right?  Now His word is settled in heaven – do you notice that it doesn’t say His word is settled in heaven and in earth?  Because His word isn’t settled in heaven and in earth – see that’s our job.  That’s why He said:  Matthew 6:10 (KJV):  “¹⁰Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”  Why?  Because His will is His word and His word is settled in heaven – our job is to settle it on earth.  We take His will – His word, and we accomplish it on the earth. 

The Hebrew word used for settled here is nasab and it means to station, to set as a boundary, it means literally to set as a boundary.  The word of God is set as your boundary, now, what that means is:  If Jesus didn’t do it – don’t you do it.  Jesus didn’t analyze people and asked them if they had sin in their life, or whether they had enough faith.  Very seldom did He say anything about faith – when somebody demonstrated faith or exhibited it He acknowledged it.   He would say:  “Do you believe I can do this” and they would say: “Yes!” and He would say:  “Ok, be healed.” 

Luke 13:10-13 (KJV):  “¹⁰And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.  ¹¹And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.  ¹²And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.  ¹³And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.”

Remember when He saw the woman was bent over and she came into the synagogue and He saw her – if you read that story it totally destroys most healing teachings, because it says when He saw her, He called her to Him.  Notice what He didn’t say to her:  “Woman, how lucky do you feel today?  How much faith do you have?  Do you think today is your day? Notice how he didn’t say:  “Wow! You’re bent over, that’s from a weak spine, there must be some unresolved grief or some unforgiveness here. The moment you get that out, God will heal you…”

Do you realize that we try to turn ourselves into doctors rather than deliverers?  You need to just set people free!  That’s what Jesus did!  He called the woman to Him and He said:  “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”  Do you notice that he didn’t say:  “Do you want to be healed?”  Why?  Because any sane person would want to be healed, isn’t that right?”

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