The 3 Essentials: All You Need for Success in Life (28 page)
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Authors: Casey Treat
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Day 22: Complete Healing
Psalm 107:20—“He sent His word and healed them.”
• Untruth: Healing is not for everyone.
• Untruth: I believe God can heal me; I just don’t know if it’s His will.
• TRUTH: It is God’s will that all people receive His healing.
This one can really get me fired up, so I’m going to have to rein myself in as I write this; otherwise, I’ll end up writing an entire chapter on this. I cannot tell you how many times I come across this wrong belief in the Body of Christ: pastors who teach it is not God’s will to heal everyone, or Christians who give up on faith because one time they prayed for someone who was very sick and he ended up dying, or Christians who are facing sickness themselves and do not believe God wants to heal them. These are exactly the kinds of lies the enemy would have us believe; anything that will shorten or decrease the victory in our lives he is passionate to promote!
We must not allow our hearts to buy into beliefs that are not founded in the Word of God. No matter what we see happen in our lives, we can never change what we believe in order to make sense of our circumstances. Throughout the New Testament, we learn that Jesus, as He walked on the earth, was the perfect expression of God. In the Gospel according to John, He says several times and in many different ways, “If you have seen Me, then you have seen the Father.” Let’s take a look at what Jesus showed us: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
all
kinds of sickness and
all
kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him
all
sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24; emphasis added).
all
kinds of sickness and
all
kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him
all
sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24; emphasis added).
Again in Matthew 9:25: “Then Jesus went about
all
the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every
sickness and
every
disease among the people” (emphasis added). Luke 6:19: “And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from him and healed them
all
” (emphasis added). And here are several more scriptures telling how Jesus healed everyone who came to Him: Matthew 8:16, 10:1, 12:15; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:40, 5:15, 6:17. These are not even the many specific accounts of Jesus healing people throughout His ministry. Clearly, we can see it is God’s will to heal any person who comes to receive it.
all
the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every
sickness and
every
disease among the people” (emphasis added). Luke 6:19: “And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from him and healed them
all
” (emphasis added). And here are several more scriptures telling how Jesus healed everyone who came to Him: Matthew 8:16, 10:1, 12:15; Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:40, 5:15, 6:17. These are not even the many specific accounts of Jesus healing people throughout His ministry. Clearly, we can see it is God’s will to heal any person who comes to receive it.
In addition, just as salvation is for every person, so is healing. Healing was part of the work of the cross! Isaiah 53:4-5 (AMP) says, “Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” And again, in 1 Peter 2:24: “He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”
As I mentioned earlier, I could write an entire chapter on this subject, and in fact I’ve taught many series about God’s supernatural healing. I’ll close with these thoughts: Let’s not shrink our faith in God’s Word down to our experience on Earth. Rather, let’s take Him at His Word and enlarge our faith to encompass His ways! Let’s renew our minds to the truth and not stay in our thoughts of unbelief.
Day 23: True Prosperity
John 10:10—“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
• Untruth: Prosperity is not for everyone.
• Untruth: It is not God’s will for everyone to be rich.
• TRUTH: God wants every Christian to be able to give and influence their world.
This is another topic that can get me all stirred up, so once again I will try to stay holy and use fewer words than I might want to. If you want to make excuses so you can stay caught in a barely-enough-to-get-by financial life, then go right ahead. Scour the Bible and find the one or two scriptures you can take out of context in order to support your argument, and struggle through life with never enough money to accomplish the dreams you have in your heart. But if you are anything like me, you are going to pursue God’s best in every area of your life—and this includes finances.
The enemy wants to keep us poor because he understands with wealth comes influence and power; if the ungodly are the ones who are rich, they will be the only voices heard in society. But imagine this: what if
every
Christian were prospering financially? The world would come in droves to find out about this amazing and abundant God!
We
would own the airtime on television;
we
would own the media and the sources the world relies upon for its news and information; and
we
would be the producers in Hollywood creating the movies, television shows, and commercials. Think of all that we could accomplish! Imagine the influence for Jesus we would have. We would be an undeniable force to be reckoned with.
every
Christian were prospering financially? The world would come in droves to find out about this amazing and abundant God!
We
would own the airtime on television;
we
would own the media and the sources the world relies upon for its news and information; and
we
would be the producers in Hollywood creating the movies, television shows, and commercials. Think of all that we could accomplish! Imagine the influence for Jesus we would have. We would be an undeniable force to be reckoned with.
This scenario is
exactly
what God envisioned when He said in Deuteronomy 8:18, “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” God needs you and me to prosper so we will have the level of influence required to spread the gospel throughout all the earth. Money is simply a tool to finance His Kingdom, and every one of us Christians needs to believe it is God’s will for us to prosper. Let’s get beyond the greed, move past the unbelief, and pursue the finances needed to build His Kingdom!
exactly
what God envisioned when He said in Deuteronomy 8:18, “But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” God needs you and me to prosper so we will have the level of influence required to spread the gospel throughout all the earth. Money is simply a tool to finance His Kingdom, and every one of us Christians needs to believe it is God’s will for us to prosper. Let’s get beyond the greed, move past the unbelief, and pursue the finances needed to build His Kingdom!
Day 24: God’s Hand
Luke 12:6-7—“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
• Untruth: God does not care about the details of my life.
• Untruth: I don’t need to talk to Him about the day-to-day issues.
• TRUTH: God wants to be daily involved in every aspect of your life.
With over six and a half billion people on this planet, I can understand how any one of us can diminish our value to God and think,
With all He’s got going all over the world, why would God care about the issue I’m having right now in my life?
I don’t know how He does it—how He is able to have His eye focused on every single one of us every moment of the day—but He does. And while I don’t believe He cares whether you wear the blue or the red sweater today, I do know He cares about every issue you are experiencing at this moment in your heart and mind.
With all He’s got going all over the world, why would God care about the issue I’m having right now in my life?
I don’t know how He does it—how He is able to have His eye focused on every single one of us every moment of the day—but He does. And while I don’t believe He cares whether you wear the blue or the red sweater today, I do know He cares about every issue you are experiencing at this moment in your heart and mind.
Many of us had natural parents who, at times (or maybe the majority of the time), were not plugged in to our lives and our needs. As a result, we felt abandoned, rejected, and unnoticed. It is so important for every Christian to resist projecting these negative impressions of a father onto our Heavenly Father; God is nothing like this. He desires to be a part of your life; He wants you to engage Him in every dilemma, every life choice, and every moment of internal growth. He dearly loves you and is interested in what you have to say and what you are experiencing right now. Here are some scriptures to renew your mind to this image of God:
The entire Psalm 139 is an amazing psalm to meditate upon and renew your heart to God’s participation in every detail of your life. Here are a few of its verses:
“
You
know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You” (vv. 2-4, 7-8; emphasis added).
In Isaiah 49:15-16 (AMP), read God’s reply to the suggestion that He might forget His people: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture of) you on the palm of each of My hands; [O Zion] your (lives) are continually before Me.” Not only does God have the whole world in His hands, He has each of our faces tattooed on the palms of His hands!
Let’s meditate upon these truths instead of any other thoughts that would attempt to chip away at our faith in God’s love.
Day 25: Total Forgiveness
1 John 1:9—“If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
• Untruth: I have committed the unpardonable sin.
• Untruth: I think I have lost my salvation.
• TRUTH: No, you have not committed the unpardonable sin or lost your salvation. If you had you would not be concerned or think about it.
I’m not sure if these fears come from a lack of knowledge of the Word, past religious teachings that spread a spirit of guilt and condemnation, or a misunderstanding of the grace of God. Perhaps it is a combination of these.
We want to believe there are venial sins, or sins that do not cost me our salvation, and mortal sins, or ones that are unforgivable and send us straight to Hell. But God said we are saved by grace, not by works, lest any man should boast. When I get to Heaven, I cannot say, “Hey everybody! Check me out! Look at everything I did to get myself here.” By the same token, there are no sins we can commit that can keep us out of Heaven. It’s all based upon our faith in Jesus.
Salvation is a free gift from God, completely independent from our works—and this means good works or bad works. Salvation is given to any person, regardless of their past, their addictions (remember, I was a huge druggie), or their behaviors; it only takes a sincere belief in Jesus Christ. The moment a person becomes born again, they are entirely transformed in their spirit. The human spirit, once dead and unresponsive to God, is suddenly alive to Christ and a relationship with God begins that instant. To ask whether a person who is born again can lose their salvation is like asking if a baby that was just born could now become “unborn.”
In John 10:28, Jesus promises, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” This guarantee is again stated in Hebrews 13:5, and the Amplified Bible reads: “For God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”
I believe the fears of losing one’s salvation are based upon this scripture found in Hebrews 6:4-6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” This scripture is referring to the person who has experienced an authentic and mature relationship with Jesus, has communed with the Holy Spirit and operated in His gifts, and then has utterly defied Christ, publicly pronouncing that Jesus is
not
the Son of God. This scripture has less to do with the traitor’s actions than it does the complete hardening of the heart, and this type of rebellion is very rare.
not
the Son of God. This scripture has less to do with the traitor’s actions than it does the complete hardening of the heart, and this type of rebellion is very rare.
Most Christians who go back to their worldly friends and lifestyles and who stop going to church simply do so because they have been hurt, don’t want to change their old ways, or never planted themselves in their local church. Then, many are too ashamed or too prideful to come back. But this does not mean they have lost their salvation. This would take a sincere confession
against
Jesus as the Christ and
against
the Holy Spirit.
against
Jesus as the Christ and
against
the Holy Spirit.
Day 26: Significance
Jeremiah 29:11—“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
• Untruth: I’m just one person, and not wealthy or very influential at that, so my life is not making any difference.
• Untruth: I don’t really have any major impact for Christ.
• TRUTH: Your life is extremely significant!
In today’s society, we look at the big movie stars, the pro athletes, and the world-renowned talk-show hosts, and we fool ourselves into believing our lives are puny and insignificant. We even take this attitude into the church and think unless we are a pastor of a mega-church or a worldwide evangelist, we aren’t making much of a difference for God. This could not be further from the truth! God does not view the world as man views the world, and He does not value the things the world values.
Imagine if David would have believed about himself what everyone else thought about him. In 1 Samuel 16, when the prophet Samuel went to anoint the new king of Israel, he came to David’s father’s house and asked to see all the sons. David’s father totally disregarded David as a viable option for king and didn’t even call him in from the fields to meet Samuel. Even the prophet was surprised when God spoke to his heart that none of these strong, burly men before him was to be the future king. “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’ ” (v. 7). God chose David, and he became the most powerful earthly king in history.
You might never know the significance your life has made on the eternity of another, but God does. Your invitation might cause the next Billy Graham to come to church and give his or her life to Christ. Your kindness might be the reason a person chooses to not commit suicide. Your words of wisdom could cause a young person to make a choice that alters their future for the better. Your private, fervent prayer may turn the political leader of your nation to make choices that affect billions of people.
We can never allow ourselves to believe man’s applause is the barometer of our success and influence in our lifetimes. Only God’s applause matters, and when we give our lives to Him, we can trust He is using us to the greatest capacity.
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