GOD ALLOWS IT!
One day, a friend of ours stopped by the house after her husband was killed suddenly. His death had left her alone, caring for her children, without any income. While visiting us, our friend kept repeating that her husband’s death must have been God’s will -- since He allowed it. After a day of this, I could not tolerate it any longer and had to interrupt her.
I asked her a very simple question, “Do you think that a God of love would kill your husband?”
She said that since God allowed it, it must have been her husband’s time to go.
I asked her to reconsider her conversation, and warned her about the danger this kind of mindset creates. I stated, in no uncertain terms, that God did not kill her husband, nor did He allow it. I reminded her of James 1:16-17, which admonishes us against believing that God does bad things to the good people who love Him. This belief is deception. The verse in James clearly states that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, in which there is no variableness or change.
Unfortunately, our friend left the house offended, and has not talked to us since. Although I tried to gently correct her, she would not have any of it. Sadly, she is not alone in this mindset. Many Christians believe that God allows horrible tragedies to come into their lives. Just last week I heard a preacher on the radio interviewing an individual who had lost their child. The entire program centered on how great it is to know that we can trust God, since He must have had a plan to take their child. And, since it was God’s plan, we should be comforted by it. My friend, this is heresy!!
God is good! The problem is that too many Christians do not know that we have been given the keys of the kingdom; whatever we bind will be bound, and whatever we loose will be loosed. We are the change agents for the kingdom of God in the earth realm. When the disciples were caught in a storm on the lake, and feared for their lives, Jesus did not condone their fear. Instead, He rebuked the men for their lack of faith. Jesus clearly placed the responsibility with the disciples, and not with God.
While not popular, this teaching is desperately needed today. The truth of the kingdom, and how it operates, needs to be regularly preached and taught so that people will understand that their circumstances are within their control. God has provided us with the keys to the kingdom so that we can use them to build our lives. The kingdom principles, without exception, work EVERY TIME. If there appears to be a kingdom failure, we must take a critical look at ourselves to determine what caused our faith failure. Trust me, the Holy Spirit will assist you in gaining understanding in this area if you will ask. My life changed dramatically once I realized that I needed to understand how the kingdom works. I learned that I was the one who was responsible to release kingdom principles into my life and if I did not, no one else could do it for me.
Gary
God DOES NOT kill
Gary,
I saw you on tv recently and I was blessed. I went to your site and was blessed even more. It is refreshing to read or here someone say God does not plan or want horrible things to happen to his children. I was abused by my Dad as a child and it had made it hard to go to my Father in heaven because of those experiences. At first it was easier to go to Jesus, the Son, then to the Father. But overtime I am learning how loving my Heavenly Father is. I am learning my papa God will NOT hurt me nor does He plan on hurting me so it is SAFE to come to Him. It saddens me to read someone believes their loving heavenly Father would kill. It says in God's Word "Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy but Jesus Christ came to give us life and life more abundantly" Yes horrible things happen in life, somethings we will probably never be able to expain or understand why, unless God chose to open our understanding to it and we received it. It says in the Bible "we only know it part" God knows everything and understands everything in a very deep way, thats why he asks us not to judge and He is a better Judge than us. God has given all of us a FREE WILL to choose in life. Our choices cause doors to open or close, our choices bring pain or blessing to others. Why doesn't God step in and stop horrible things from happening? I don't completly have the answer to that question, none of us probably ever will, untill we go to heaven, then I believe we will understand the big picture. I do agree with Gary that we have to learn how to walk and talk in God's Kingdom. Take certain thoughts captive. We just can't sit back and be like, well God is in control I don't have a part. We do have a part and our loving Father wants to teach us through His Holy Spirt what to do or say to be successful in his kingdom. I want to learn how to walk and talk in God's kingdom so I was very excited to hear Gary talk and bring some fresh and needed revelation. God has been reveiling small amounts of this to me so this is very exciting. I do know God is coming back for a victorious church and that Jesus's death on the Cross of Calvery made a huge difference. God took our punishment for our sin, and God put our sin on Jesus at the Cross, so our penality for sin was completely taken care of at the cross. So when a person truely accepts Jesus and is born again, they are completely FORGIVIN of ALL their sins. For years I did not think I was forgivin and it brought a lot of conemnation but know I now I am completly forgiven. So now because of Jesus "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." I am learning when we think right (what God's Word says is right) we act and live right. For example, when a born again beliver knows they are made righteous, because of Jesus, it is easier to live right and not walk in condemnation ("there is know NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"), but if a born again believer thinks and believes they are still a sinner then it is harder to walk the christian walk because that person keeps themselves slaves to sin, guilt, condemnation and so on even though they have been set FREE by Jesus. I know now that I am righteous and holy because of Jesus not because of me. And I am a Queen in my Father's kingdom. So my Father WILL supply all my needs, forgive me of all my sins, love me deeply no matter what I DO my Father's love is based on who I am, NOT what I do, and heal me of all my disease and emotional pain IF I will deep down believe (open the door to what is already there for me to have, because of Jesus) God's unshakeable TRUTH. Tina
Pastor Gary - I Enjoy Your Teaching
Pastor I just wanted to say I appreciate your teaching on Kingdom Principles. We really enjoyed you and Drenda visiting with us at AWC in Omaha, NE earlier this year. I have a comment for the few "haters" that feel they have to throw stones at someone trying to shed some revelation of the Kingdom. If you don't like what the Man of God is saying then "eat the meat and throw away the bone" but don't hoard bitterness and hatred because you'll only end up hurting yourself and keep God from blessing you. I'm sure you disagree with your boss sometimes but I'll bet you'll be at work bright and early Monday morning ready to work! Just a little food for thought. Keep shedding some light Pastor G!I am so thankful someone is
I am so thankful someone is teaching people to stop blaming God for the bad things that happen. I am so thankful that I am hearing more and more preachers telling the truth, as you have, that God does not "allow"~! What about 2 Peter 3:9? If God's will is always automatically done and nothing happens to us except passing through Him first - what do you do with this verse?? It is not God's will for anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance! Every day people enter eternity without Jesus. This is NOT God's will - nor did He allow it. He gave us a free will and will not viloate that. We are lazy and want everything to be God's fault - especially when it doesn't turn out like we want it to. It removes all responsibility and accountability from me if I can lay it all on Him. And everyone wants to use Job - read your Bible - the WHOLE thing - Job was not only before the Grace covenant - which we live under - a new and better covenant - he was even before the Law and even before the Abrahamic covenant - what happened to him CAN NOT and WILL NOT happen to us! Not only that - the book of Job is not about whether or not God lets bad things happen, it is a story about Satan challenging God (coming before Him into Heaven - which he can not do anymore - because the blood of Jesus has been spilt onto the mercy seat in heaven and he can not go in!!) but this is a story about how he challenged God that he could make Job curse God and God said, "I know my man, he loves Me - he will not curse me" God knows our potential and ignores our actions! God knew Job's heart and God was right! Satan was wrong. God won. You must take the Bible as a whole. No where else in the entire Word of God do you find the principles in Job. You can pick and choose what to follow. Jesus also told us to pluck out our eye if it offends but you don't see us running around pulling our eyes out! Why do we want to believe Job and not Jesus?? We must take the Word as a whole. And speaking of Jesus - He healed everyone who came to Him - He never once told any of them "Well, I would heal you but I really think you need to keep this sickness a little longer until you can learn to stop committing that sin you've been committing" God does not allow bad things to happen to us. We sin and allow Satan into our lives or because of this fallen world, someone else sins and causes destruction and pain in our lives - can we grow by this and learn from it?? Yes - God is faithful to take our bad and turn it for our good - but His heart is broken when we experience pain or any lack. The prodigal left by his own choice. His loving father let him make his own choices even tho he knew it wasn't good for him. And then His father waited everyday at the end of the road, watching for him, hurting for him and his loss. And He welcomed him home with open arms when he decided to return!Why did God allow this
Thank you so much for sharing this. I too disagree with that line of teaching that God allows bad things. My husband and I were at a Sunday night service at our church last year and the youth pastor spoke on this issue. His stance on it was that God's will is always done so everything that happens is God's will. I was heartbroken. Our young teenage daughter was in the service with us. We felt it was our obligation as her parents to pull her aside later that night and tell her what scripture says, and that just because we are friends with people doesn't mean we agree with everything they say. I didn't know what to do except forgive people for their misinterpretations of scripture and using their own experiences to explain things. I don't understand why some people are healed and why others are not. I can't explain it, but I refuse to count my precious God as a murderer or an abuser which is what people are doing when they say His hand was involved in evil. What He does do is take that evil that satan meant for bad and turn it to good.God Allows It
I think in all of this we have to be careful that our eyes are on the Lord and not ourselves. You can get in to some dangerous legalisum here if one is not careful. Study God's word and stay close to Him. He will enlighten you to the knowledge that He wants to impart to you and at the time you need it.From Gary
Hey Curious, good points. But I said nothing about praying right but now that you mentioned it. Praying right is praying in line with righeousness. Rightiousness is what God would call right. For instance when the father brought his son to Jesus's disciples to have the demon cast out, they could not do it. However, Jesus's comment after the father said that the disciples could not cast it out was, "Oh perverse generation, how long must I be with you? Bring the boy to me." Having the demon stay was as Jesus said, perverse, not right and he corrected it when he cast it out. Without Jesus there, the diciples would have started another church denomination called, "All domons don't come out church", based on their experience. Jesus did not make his comment based on experience but on what he knew. The bible says seek first the kingom of God and his RIGHTEOUSNESS and all these things will be given to you. Seeking the kingdom means learning how it works and the secondly we need to learn what rightiousness is or we should be able to discern what is right and identify what is wrong and then stand aganist that. So as you said praying right is important but is not just the words you pray with as much as your understanding of what is right or as Jesus said in the Lord's prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Regarding the deaths of the apostles, you are right. We are promised persecution in the Word of God and the bible does say that some of us will die for our faith. garyGod ALLOWS things to happen within the spiritual laws created
Pastor Gary - I appreciate your comments and words and I DO AGREE with you. I believe that if people 'understood' the Bible scriptures in depth to truly understand what we have authority over as well as what he clearly allows in the Word, this conversation would not be convoluted. I remember there was a comment regarding Job giving sacrifices that his children (sons) may have sinned against the Lord...hmm hint there...also the fact that Job stated he 'feared' what may come upon him...hm...another hint of a spiritual law in motion. God is a just God that He alone is able to judge and he provides these judgments in His word. When I read about what you stated regarding Adam and how he gave his authority over to Satan...my spirit lept. I recall that Satan stated in scripture how the authority over the earth had been 'given' to him...hmm more hints. I think you are clearly on to something and praise the Lord. The more you talk about this the more I can ask the Lord for clarity and greater understanding. I say this due to personal experiences past and present that bares witness to your teachings! Please continue to elaborate on your knowledge of our authority and principles of the spirit - how they operate so that I and others can learn. I love your ministry!!! It has been a blessing to me and I can say that there is fruition in my life. Cheers, ~DeniseAllow It
I am curious Gary, so from what I understand you saying, if you die, it is your own fault. You did not pray the "right" prayer? What about the disciples or apostles? Some of them died terrible deaths. Was that because they did not pray the right prayers either? And children born with deformities, is that because parents did not pray properly? Granted, some deaths, bad situations, divorces, etc ARE caused by choices we make. We live in a sinful, fallen world and man is not perfect. I will also give you the fact that we are not always listening to God as we should. But I can not agree with you on many of your points. That is not the God that I worship! As far as God's power, yes, I do believe that he has set up natural laws and abides by them. However, God can do anything he wants and may even choose to by pass those laws. Just as he did when Joshua prayed for the sun and moon to stand still while the Israelites fought their enemies. Read Joshua 10. So, sorry, I don't buy all of what you are saying. The God I worship is ALL POWERFUL and can do whatever He chooses to do. My prayers do matter even if they aren't perfect or said in the right way. God knows my heart and desires.From Gary
Hey going through hard times in divorce. The bible is very clear that God hates divorce. For God to "Ok it" or allow it would be a contridiction of his Word. The truth is that it takes two people to walk in marriage. And it does take two. I cannot judge your walk or whose fault it was that the divorce took place. At the same time I do not want you to come to a conclusion in those hard times that God should have done more and now you find yourself bitter or upset with God. The fact of the matter is that your marriage was under your legal spiritual authority. Just like Adam, you and your husband had choices through those 30 years to put each other first, to hear the gentle corrective voice of the Holy Spirit and yield to it and say I am sorry. Again, I am not bringing condemnation. But if you really believe that God would want to inflict such pain on you and such destruction, then how do you pray with confidence and in faith the next time a hard situation comes up? We can see that when you bring up the topic of God allows, that you bring up a great deal of controversy among beleivers. The fact is that God does lead us into hard times, but those hard times are hard times of obedience or as the bible says the testing of your faith. And it may be pointed out that in those times God is moving you closer to your destiny and for your good when we choose to obey even when it hurts. But God does not tempt us with evil as the book of James says, he is not double minded towards us. Many times people step out of the legal spiritual covering of his Word and find themselves in trouble. To really grasp an understanding of where so many people miss it we need to turn to Hebrews 2:6 "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put EVERYTHING UNDER HIS FEET. IN PUTTING EVERYTHING UNDER HIM, GOD LEFT NOTHING THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO HIM". Do you see it? God gave man the dominion or authority over the earth realm. Satan had to decieve the one with the key (Adam) to gain entrance into the earth and God had to find a man (Abram) that would give him entrance back into the earth realm afrter Adam gave it away. That is why in Gen 3:`17 God says to Adam after the fall, "Cursed is the ground because of you". Adam is the one that caused the presence and favor of God to depart. Now man still has that dominion. God cannot send angels to share the gospel, he has to use men to do that. Did God allow Adam to fall? Yes and No. Yes he allowed it because he could not stop it. He had given Adam the earth to rule over. James 4 says that we have not because we ask not. If God already knows our need why doesn't he just produce it - he can't. He is limited by spiritual law of the earth, men have the dominion here. he must even today find a heart that is set in agreement with heaven to have a legal entrace into a situation. That is why the bible says we have the keys (authority) of the kingdom, we are the ones to bind Satan and to loose heaven's annointing on the earth. The problem is that many people do not know how the kingdom operates. We must remember that Jesus killed a living fig tree with his words and spoke to a dead person to come back to life. The spriitual laws of the kingdom are ours to use as we need them. Most of people's problems are their own doing - most! It is proven that many sicknesses are caused by fear, many people die due to driving carelessly, people are divorced because they have never been taught how to live married. In my blog, my friends husband lost control of his car and crashed. Simply put, he made a mistake, either by going to fast, not concentrating on what he was doing etc. God did not do that. You may say well what about people who find themselved in a bad situation without any fault of their own. Ok let me ask you this, why wasn't Jesus as a baby killed with all those other 2 year old babies when Herod was looking for him? Because Joseph was warned in a dream about Herod's plan. the Lord's prayer still says, "and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" which means lead us around the traps and snares of the enemy. Today I am a son of god also and I can trust the same Holy Spirit to lead me in life and warn me of things that are in front of me. I must be careful to hear, and we all get busy and miss it sometimes but I still hold to Psalms 91 and beleive that with long life he will satisfy me. garyGod Allows It
To think that it is up to us as individuals to prevent bad things from happening in our lives means that God is not in control. I reject the idea that God sits back and just lets things happen or leaves it up to us to pray the right way. He is involved in every aspect of our lives and knows our hearts. Yes, bad things do happen often because of choices that we make. God does not treat us like robots and dictates what we do. However, I do believe that everthing has to pass his approval, good or bad, just as with Job. I am going through a divorce after 30 years of marriage. My husband, supposedly a Christian, walked out and filed for a divorce. To think that this happened because I did not pray the proper thing or live by certain principles (although I felt I did/am) is not acceptable to me. God gives us limited free will and it was my husbands choice to have an adulterous affair and leave his family. I know that God will take a painful and difficult situation and turn it around for His glory and my good. It is my responsibility to listen to God's leading and make choices that God wants for me. Life is a partnership with God. To think that everthing is up to me is a scary thought. I do think that we as Christians do not live by all of the power and authority given to us. I am currently studing that. However, we are not little gods, only God has the ultimate power and authority.Does God Allow
I Believe God does allow things to happen because He Gave us Dominion- He Gave us Free Choice. Our words have power. Our actions bring about consequences. Sometimes the actions of others bring pain & destruction. The fact is no one wants to really examine the hard things; it's much easier to just blame God for letting it happen. The Bible does not say we will not have trouble; it says He will be with us right in the middle of it. We are to Live In His Presence, Walk In His Kingdom Principles, Trust Him in & thru Every situation in our lives. How many people Really do that?Did God allow it?
Thank you so much for this teaching you have brought to the forefront. My husband & I have believed this way for years. We have been chastised mulitple times for this type of thinking, but we just know from God's word that He is not the destroyer. He has given us life. Since it has been preached from the pulpit that God must have allowed it to happen to teach us a lesson, then it must be true. The pastor surely cannot be wrong, but we knew by the Spirit that he was wrong. We just decided not to let this type of thinking get into our spirit. If God allowed it to happen then why do people pray to Him to get them out of the trial. When our Faith is being tried or tested it is not God who is doing the testing, it is satan himself, testing our Faith. Sometimes we have to examine ourselves to see how we ALLOWED this to happen. What were we speaking, what were we doing. We do not want to think that we may have done something to ALLOW this to happen. Thank you so much for comfirming what my husaband & I have held on to for years, in spite of what was being preached. Just this morning I heard Joyce Meyer say that God allows things to happen. I respect & admire Joyce, but I do not agree with everything that she says & I will continue to listen to her teaching. God bless this ministry!God Allows It!
Oh, thank God, thank God, I am not alone in my disgust at this lie! It is an offense to our Father, Whose love and sacrifice set us free from the untimely clutches of the enemy! I have had this discussion--typically ending the same as yours did--with many sisters & brothers in the Body, including leadership. When the debate comes to the point of the other person saying something like, "Well, Christians die everyday in car accidents, work-related accidents, etc, etc...how do you justify that in your viewpoint?" And the Lord has always re-inforced the same reply, "My people PERISH for lack of knowledge." I explain, "The same reason we have Christians who are sick, in debt, addicted, etc....they have not yet gotten the revelation of how the Christ and the Covenant resolved that issue!" I tell them, "I KNOW that the enemy's job is to steal, KILL, and destroy, and therefore, EVERY time I go to work, or my son gets in his vehicle to go anywhere, I decree over our 'comings & goings', "Lord, YOU said that in You, we are protected in our coming in and our going out, that all the posterity of our family is protected within our boundaries and our travels, and I thank you that what was true for the Israelites under that law is even more true in the New Covenant of Your Son's Blood!" I ache for the Body to grasp hold of TRUTH!Prosperity
Dear Sir: I want prosperity I am tired of debt, I enjoyed your tapes; I see GOD with me I feel it could be better. I also beleive there are too many christians in America. I was pained to see a beautiful girl killed in Iran who may have never heard the gospel who looked for earthly freedom. I beleive we are getting poor because we are not the brave missionary minded people we used to be and unfortunately I am a little on the cowardly side myself. Stan S. Washington DC.study more please
"The problem is that too many Christians do not know that we have been given the keys of the kingdom; whatever we bind will be bound, and whatever we loose will be loosed." That comes from Matthew 18:15-20 5"If your brother sins against you,[b] go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'[c] 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be[d]bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven. 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. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." That passage is describing church discipline. Why are you taking it out of context? "If there appears to be a kingdom failure, we must take a critical look at ourselves to determine what caused our faith failure." You can't be serious. - This sounds like typical Rhema doctrine, which if anything will eventually FAIL you in dealing with the real world that God has subjected to futility in order to display his glory. Romans 8:18-21 18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Please, I urge you to reconsider your weak view of God's sovereignty over life and death You are robing him of the honor due to him.Pastor Gary Heresy
Pastor Gary, I am sorry that people are actually buying into this heresy. You used James 1:16-17 as your defense, and a weak one at that. I beg you to spend less time on stage speaking and more time in your Bible. Obviously, you have not heard of Job, or were not aware that God allowed His own Son to be brutally murdered, or perhaps you are unaware that the disciples all finished their lives brutally. Try telling this crap to the family members of martyrs, and I am sure they will have a very different story for you. If we were to take your principle literally, you will have to say that Jesus was encouraging the works of the devil in John 15:13. Your teaching completely diminishes the supremacy of God over the issues of this world. Your idea says that God is not in control of everything, and that Satan can thwart the plans of God. Please, I beg you to stop feeding people this feel good garbage. It is not Biblical, and not helpful to any Christian life."God is Good, ALL THE TIME!"
Wow Pastor Gary, I, just this morning, August 2nd, 2009, via the internet, was blessed to tune into a minister, whom I have come to admire and repsect, for his stand on God's word. He too was teaching on the subject of, "is it God's fault when bad things happen in our life." The thing is, this was not in his notes, he was all prepared to teach another lesson and said he felt lead to touch on the aforementioned subject. He ended up nearly spending his whole lesson time on it. He read from Job, Matthew 18:18, and a few other scriptures also. So I find it amazing that as I came to your site today, August 2nd, 2009, you also had a blog on this same subject. As that minister said in his message, many christian's are, excuse the way I put this, but, many christians are trying to play in the game of the christian life, and, "they do not know the rules." (Therefore they are getting whooped by the circumstances of life). And sadly, they think God is behind it. *I believe that once Adam/Eve/Man fell, the rules changed. God, so to speak, was now on the outside looking in, and, unless we, his child/people, invite him in, into whatever it is we need his help and guidance in, he cannot do anything about it, although he wants to. *In Genesis 1:26, God gave Adam/Man, "dominion", over the earth realm. *Then Adam, by disobeying God's decalration, (Gen 2:17,) to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam gave that dominion over to Satan (Luke 4:6). *Thus, now things are all screwed up, especially our minds with regards to God nad our relationship with him. I believe, and thank God, that he took that dominion back through Jesus Christ, but we, (humans), still have to believe and except what God did through Jesus, and then we have to renew our mind to God's word and seek guidance via the holy spirit to overcome in life. Pastor Gary I thank God so much that I stumbled upon you on the Sid Roth show a while back. You are the only minister that I have heard that really breaks down the importance of what really happens when we give our tithes and offerings to God's kingdom. I like how you explain, and back it up with scripture, that when we give of our substance (money), what we have an effect done is allowed are substance to change kingdoms or authorities. Thus, now God has a legal right to move in and on our behalf. I recommend that everyone should get your teaching CD set, Financial Revolution. I believe it will be a real eye opener for many, that is, if they are open minded enough to allow the Holy Spirit to give them the revelation he desires. Satan is robbing many of God's people of God's blessings of peace of mind, health, increase in finances and more important, the opportunity of "BEING A BLESSING", to others. Again I thank God for you and your ministry."God Does Not Kill"
I humbly submit the following for your consideration: 1. The wages of sin is death. Who decided and established this? 2. The flood. Who brought the water that killed who knows how many people and animals? 3. Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire and brimstone came down from ABOVE. 4. The Passover in Egypt..the firstborn was killed by whom? 4. The plague that killed many Isrealites by eating quail. Who sent the quail in His anger? 5. Thousands of Ammonites, Hittites, Canaanites killed by Israel by whose instruction? 6. Who established the animal sacrificial system that killed who knows how many innocent animals? 7. Achan and his innocent family killed by whose direction? 8. David's innocent son died by whose direction? 9. The innocent man Jesus Christ died on the cross by whose direction and will? 10. Ananias and Sapphira. Who struck them dead? 11. In the judgment who is it that casts Satan, his angels and his followers into the lake of fire, which is the second death? I could go on and on and one but I think you get the point. God does kill pro-actively and passively...even innocent people. Fortunately for our sake, we do not need to fear the first death, and this is the message that should have been given to the woman who lost her husband (there is appointed unto each man a time to die...appointed by whom???????). It is the second death that is permanent and to be feared. Jesus has offered a way for all of us to avoid the second death. Unfortunately, all of us must die the first death because we have sinned. This is God's decree. Jesus tells us not to fear the first death. And because He does love us, He offers us life if we so choose. Jesus shows us how to deal with life's circumstances, issues, trials and sufferings....even the death of a loved one. We are to suffer "with" Jesus...not suffer "for Jesus". Choose life today. Choose to have the mind of Christ in you and you will know that good and perfect will of the Father.Job's situation
I like what "tw" said below in "Thanks for telling the truth". Our part is to renew our mind to the already finished work and believe God's Word. God is a good God... what we allow, is what we get! It's never God's fault!!! Here are a few scriptures to read concerning Job's situation. Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed god in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. Job 2:36 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. Job 6:24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. Job says in chapter 3 verse 25, that the thing which he greatly feared is come upon him. He feared that his sons had sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. He says in chapter 2 verse 36 that he was not in safety, neither had he rest, neither was he quiet; yet trouble came. It sounds like he wasn't at peace which is how fear crept in. Satan has access to a person's life through fear, like God has access through faith. In chapter 6 verse 24 he is asking God to show him wherein he erred.please explain... because something doesn't add up here!
God clearly allowed/permitted the catastrophes Job endured as well as the deaths of his 10 children. There is no record of him or them being faithless, disobedient to God or not operating by Kingdom principles. (From all appearances, Job must have had a firm hold on Kingdom principles, seeing how God had blessed him before the testing and again how he was prospered after the testing. Surely he had taught his children the same principles, although that does not necessarily mean they were living by them. We all know plenty of parents who brought kids up one way and kids live another.) There is, however, established record that satan came before God about Job, and God allowed/permitted satan full access to everything except his very life. At satan's whims, a fell swoop here, a fell swoop there, a fell swoop everywhere, and Job was destitute, childless and on the ash heap scraping his boils. God didn't send it or cause it, but He certainly allowed/permitted it!thanks for telling the truth
thanks for telling the truth God has provided everthing that pertains to life and godliness. Jesus was our sacrifice he took all punishment for sin pain sickness poverty and fear the chastisment of our peace( nothing missing or broken) was placed on HIM. thank you JESUS!! it is finished ! !our part is to renew our mind to the already finished work and believe Gods word if i fail to recive the promises the problem is with me (wrong info produces wrong resultes) God is perfect and i am not .the devil has already been defeated , if you belives God is responsible for tradegy you have no foundation to resist the devil if you dont resist the devil he wont flee. faith starts when you know the will of God, if you know the will of God you can believe circumstances are temporary. as a man thinks so is he thanks God bless twMAYBE SHE WAS LOOKING FOR COMFORT
WELL IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALL KNOW MORE THAN ME ABOUT WHAT GOD IS DOING. I'M TRYING TO DECREE AND USE THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM TO BE WHAT IM SUPPOSE TO BE OR DO WHAT IM SUPPOSE TO DO AND I JUST CAN'T GET IT RIGHT. ITS ALL NEW TO ME AND I DONT HAVE ANY FRIENDS SO IM ON MY OWN. THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE JUST LOOK AT ME LIKE IM CRAZY WHEN I TALK THE "SAY IT AND YOU WILL HAVE IT" TALK, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING YET. I FEEL ALONE AND ON MY OWN EXCEPT FOR TBN, CREFLO DOLLAR, KENNETH COPELAND, JOYCE MEYER AND A FEW OTHERS. I GO TO WORLD HARVEST AND CANT SEEM TO GET PLUGGED IN. SOMETIMES I FEEL GOD WORKING IN MY LIFE, BUT THEN MY FAITH DROPS WHEN NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AND BAD HAPPENS INSTEAD. I'M THINKING THAT MAYBE THE WIDOWED LADY THAT HAD CHILDREN AND NO INCOME WAS LOOKING FOR COMFORT AND HELP AND NOT CORRECTION ON THE WAY SHE WAS THINKING. MAYBE IT BROUGHT HER COMFORT TO THINK THAT IT WAS GODS WILL FOR HER HUSBAND TO DIE, THAT IT WAS A GOD THING. I GET DISCOURAGED BECAUSE I HAVE TO CONNECT WITH THE TV AND BOOKS. I DONT THINK GOD MEANT IT TO BE THAT WAY. GARY I SURE HOPE YOU HELP THE FRIEND IN HER TROUBLE. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOU AND DRENDA NEEDED TO SHOW HER THE LOVE OF GOD AND NOT GET INTO A DEBATE ABOUT HOW SHE WAS THINKING WRONG. HURTING IN OHIOPRECIOUS PEOPLE
For all those precious people who are reading this site and keeping quiet, maybe hurting, and confused. I have a message for you! NEVER FORGET THAT GOD LOVES YOU. YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM, AND HE CARES ABOUT YOU. YES YOU. DON'T THINK THAT HE DOESN'T, BECAUSE HE DOES. He knows your name. You just need to be open to Him. He will show us the truth. Just ask with a sincere heart. Here is one story. Close on 30 years ago my father died suddenly at 60 years of age. He had been prophesied over just previously as having more faith in that large city than anyone else. Quite amazing, seeing the one who prophesied didn't know him. At about the same time as the prophesy I began adamently believing through teaching that the godly can only live long lives. So therefore when he died I thought surely God would raise him from the dead. People went to pray over him, and came away saying they just felt incredible peace. I thought they may have given up too soon. Dad had been a missionary to the Africans (a term for the black people of South Africa). Some time after Dad died one special African man made a comment to me of how Dad had lived to be such an old man. I was surprised at first. Then I realized that Dad loved the African people so much and was so close to their heart that they considered him one of them (even though he was white. I am not being racist here - this is another culture.) It turned out that the average African man only lived to 45! I guess I didn't realize this before because I knew of others who were much older. Then about a year ago, I still wasn't really settled with it, and asked God to show me what He was thinking from His point of view. God told me to look up Isaiah 57:1,2. Wow! I had wondered if this was the reason for years, as the violence increased dramatically in that area just after Dad died, and Dad said he would never retire. This is what it says: "Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die." Is that amazing or what? On the other hand, we know that some people do die because they don't believe in the power of what Jesus accomplished for us through His body when he took ALL evil on Himself so we can be free, as mentioned in I Cor.11:29,30. But only God and the person really knows what goes on inside their heart. So we need to watch our own heart, and don't hang on to doubt. Jesus brought good news! And His whole agenda is to have a relationship with you, and accomplish much together. SheilaGod allowed it? No, He didn't!!!
It is our responsibility to become students of the Word of God. God's Word clearly states, it's His will for us to live long in the earth. Deuteronomy 30:19 says: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, bleassing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. Psalm 91:16 says: With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Philippians 1:23, 24, 25 (New Living Translation) Paul says: I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24- But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25- Know this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy your faith. NOW, in order to be "torn between two desires" we have to have a choice. And in verse 25 he says: "I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow". God said: Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! We have a say in how long we live, by the words we speak. We have to speak words of life and "say so" on a daily basis. Last but not least Psalm 118:17 says: I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Praise God in Heaven!!! -LaTonyadesiring to understand in greater revelation
Gary, what you wrote, I had asked the Lord about 2 months ago, "Why (if I've been translated in to the Kingdom of God and the Son of HIs Love,and I have) am I not overcoming certain areas in my life? I have asked the Lord to teach me - he has been ! It has been a "lack of confidence" and lack of understanding of God's love for me, a lack of understanding about, "releasing my faith", a lack of understanding of waiting on God, a lack of understanding that I can accept myself even when I mess up - I don't have to reject myself, God doesn't. My upbringing and the way I was treated as a child affected me in having value...through the Grace of God, my mind has been renewed and continues to be renewed in Christ. Peace and Joy and Love! TrudyNO UNDERSTAND: NO DOES WORK!
There are many kingdoms in the world. One just has to go to the continent of Africa to see that. If we do not understand the laws of that kingdom, we will not operate in it. Believe me, things will not go so smoothly for you if you try to operate differently than that kingdom. In the same way, if we do not understand the laws of the Kingdom of God, things are not going to work out for us. It is that simple. Not just learning the laws of the Kingdom of God, but understanding them and then operating in them is more difficult for some of us than others because of our mindset and being taught man's version instead of God's version earlier in life. If it doesn't work we need to find out why, and it is not from God's side. He has been around a lot longer than we have. If God never changes, why do some people decide He does, to fit their circumstances? He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If God is love, and heals; how can He cause bad things for His children, and put sickness on someone or cause an accident? He is one or the other. The Bible clearly teaches that it is satan who comes to kill, steal, and destroy. God gives life. It is exactly why Jesus came to rescue us from sickness, poverty, etc. We understand evil and good on earth, so why do we mix them up when it comes to God? So when I am not operating in a certain area to see results, I try to learn all I can to find out how God says it should work and to build my faith in that area. It takes puting my faith into action (believing), and learning by doing and practise like anything else we would learn, and hanging on like a bulldog would when believing. God told me recently that I need to watch what I say because unbelief and worry are like throwing your seed away or cutting the stem off so the flowers can never bloom. It stops God working, and doesn't bring things to pass sometimes when we nearly have the manifestation. We create or chop down with our words. So happy learning. I sure could learn more from what God has taught you, Gary and Drenda. SheilaGod Allows it
My comment is that you walk in faith and you decree and declare God's word and you surround yourself with His Word constantly so that you don't get out of faith and then the thing you are believing for does not manifest in fact it is quite the opposite. I know the Word says that all God's promises are yes and amen, but there has to be times that he says "No", isnt death a part of life, how can you say that God did not allow her husband's death, when we all have to pass that way and it is God who decides when? micheleAuthority
Gary, I don't usually blog, I just read everyone's opinion, but I had to write a comment today. I am a christian that believes the whole counsel of God. I listen to different ministries on TV, and frankly there are just a few ministers that teach as you teach. I believe you are correct, but I am in the minority. Most Christians believe that they have no power over the circumstances that come their way. They don't understand that Jesus has given them authority over the enemy, and if they don't understand their authority, then they certainly wont act on it.I am open to the Holy Spirit's teaching as I read the Word of God. I believe that Jesus came to give us the abundant life, and I am thanking God that the rest of the body of Christ will come into this knowledge soon. LindaGod Allows It
I understand the position that you are taking. It is taking a stand firmly on what Christ did. I believe that we barely scratch the surface of what belongs to us as sons and daughters of the living God because of how we have limited ourselves in deceptive mindsets. I am just learning, through experience with God and the power of the Holy Spirit, how powerful and vast redemption is. However, I do believe that the Lord teaches us through trials. I believe that God will, not only allow for storms, but bring them to us. Just as we bring our children into tough situations, consequences, restrictions, etc. knowing that they will come out the other side having found a more valuable thing, in the way of character development or spiritual growth. Honestly, because I have seen so much in the way of redemption and miracles in my life and have gained a deeper understanding than ever before of the idea that wholeness and health and prosperity belong to us as the body of Christ, while at the same time have walked through some very difficult trials and gained the treasure of God's discipline - that I sometimes stumble into prayer not knowing if I am making a desperate cry or an undeniable declaration. In any case, the Kingdom of God is here and I appreciate that you are urging us on to contend for it.