SOVEREIGNTY

 

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND BLESSING AND HEALING

Genesis 22:15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son --- 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

Some Christians believe God chooses to bless or heal whether or not we praise Him. He is the Sovereign One who moved first. It's by his grace that we receive mercy, blessing and healing, not how much or how little we praise Him. They believe as a result some will be healed and others will die unhealed even though God's word says about Abraham who received and believe the promise from God and the others did not:

Galatians 3: 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ---6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed."9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

James 2: 18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe --- and tremble!20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Many Christians don't read their bible as it seems they overlook the necessity of faithfulness (Matt. 25; Lk. 12: 40 – 42f. Lk. 16: 10 – 12, and many more. They needsto read it in order to see that God requires obedience 2 Cor. 9: 13; . We have a choices to make, if we want to have salvation, it requires that we follow the “law of Christ” also called the “Royal law” which means that we are saved to do “good works” (Jn. 14: 12) and, if we are not faithful then we are into sin (Matt. 24: 45 – 51). If we are not faithful in carrying out God’s plans and will for our lives then we can lose our salvation (2 Peter 2: 19- 21; Hebrews 6: 1 – 8; Rev. 3: 5).

Many have been deceived by what is called “predestination”. Predestination refers to God’s Plan of Salvation in which we have to make a decision to repent and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Mk. 16: 17 – 18). It is not about God deciding before or at birth who is going to be saved. The Plan is that we all have to make a decision to either accept God’s Plan which is called the New Testament.

We are not saved by good works, we are saved to do good works which is a choice that we have to make ourselves and then, we will be judged on the basis of our faithfulness. That’s also the reason why Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to y our advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you”. Then, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit’s “job description”(Jn. 16: 8 – 15). If you are going to work for a Bible distribution organization, it would be wise to read the Bible in order that you will not lose your salvation, if indeed, you have it (Jn. 3: 3, 5, 7). Salvation includes repentance and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the “Signs” following to prove it (Jn. 16: 17 – 20).

Many are like Adam, who tried to blame God for his sin, “The woman who thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3: 12 - 13). In other words, “God it’s your fault that I sinned. You had it planned so what else could I do. Isn’t that what you predestined for me to do?” NO, it was not! The PLAN was for Adam to say, “No, because God told me not to eat the fruit from that tree because if I did, I would die.” The plan was that Adam had a choice and Eve had a choice. The devil had a choice not to lie. This is what many are trying to do.

Many Christians need to start reading the Bible so they can really have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and be guided by the Holy Spirit.

THE REASONS FOR STORMS

Storms of life will come to every one to test and see if the person has heard the words of Jesus and has done them. Those who are left standing after the storm are God’s true ones and those who have fallen are false ones.   Each person makes a choice whether to act on the Word of God that is spoken by the Holy Spirit or not. Those who do not act are only deceived ones.  Apostle James clearly instructed the children of God:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

Now Jesus taught on how it is possible to become deceived by having a bad eye which results from serving God and mammon:

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? "

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:22-34

Spiritual blindness and deceivement comes from the love of money, prominence and fame and not being faithful with what has been entrusted to God’s own for good stewardship. Jesus stated:

"So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? "And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:8-15

God is not fooled by any one and He knows the hearts of men including the pharisaical ones even in the house of God. People get deceived because they chose the love of money over the love of God and being faithful. They literally end up departing from the faith they once had as a result of it. For God’s word is true:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Those who love money and desire to be rich fall into temptation and snares of different kinds. Seeking and doing true justice, righteousness and truth, having integrity and obeying God’s commandments given by the Holy Spirit are subjected to a secondary consideration while personal profit becomes the primary goal.  This is something that King Saul did when he disobeyed the Word of God to go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they had , and not to spare them. But he was to kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' God’s word records:

And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. 1 Samuel 15:7-9

As a result God greatly regretted  that He  had set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following God , and had not performed His commandment. After the battle Saul went to Carmel,  to set up a monument for himself when prophet Samuel confronted Saul and said,

"What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on." So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? "Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?"

And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 1 "But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."

Then Samuel said:  "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,  As in obeying the voice of the LORD?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,  And to heed than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,  And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,  He also has rejected you from being king." 1 Samuel 15:16-23

Saul for the love of prominence, riches and fame rejected the word of the Lord and was rejected by the Lord from being king. His end was worse than His beginning as the Lord turned His face from Saul. God replaced him with a better man  with a man after His own heart who would listen to His voice and obey His commands. Nevertheless God’s word is true:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked;  Who can know it? , the LORD, search the heart,  I test the mind,  Even to give every man according to his ways,  According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10

If anyone has an ear, let him hear Revelation 13:9

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14