Love Conquers All

Our highest calling as people on this Earth is to love. To love means to treat others the way you want to be treated. To love means to give up what you want or need for someone else's benefit.

We are called to love each other the way that our Creator loves us, for we are created in His image. He loved us so much that He became a human--lived among us--and suffered injustly (unto death!) so that the chains of evil could be ultimately defeated and so that we could be reconciled to our perfect, holy God.

While Jesus lived on Earth, he set many people free from the chains of sin and physical suffering. And his mission never ended. Those who choose to follow Jesus's example are called to share God's love and POWER to the whole world so that we may ALL may live in the way that God originally intended--in pure love and blessing. This is something that we should all strive to make a REALITY: "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago" -- Ephesians 2:10, NLT.

Inspiration for 2011

I came across a collection of prophetic words for 2011 that were both inspirational and motivational to me. I felt a connection to the words in my spirit. Many of the prophecies concerning God's preparation for His bride are becoming (and have been becoming) manifest in my life, and they depict the feelings I have been sensing from God's Spirit over the last several months. I am looking forward to how God can use me for the greatest move of His Kingdom on Earth, and I am so thankful that God has chosen to train me to be a better warrior for His heavenly army. I am motivated to draw near to God this year, and I anticipate that He will do marvelous works this year. I hope you will find these words equally encouraging and inspiring.

A New Thought about Sin

As I was reading the first couple chapters of 1 John, I had a new thought about this very familiar passage. Before sharing my new thought, let me share the key verses that caught my attention:

God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
(1 John 1:5b-7, NIV)

Was Jesus an Amillennialist?

In Matthew 12, we see an account of an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees accuse Jesus of being possessed by Satan, and they claim that Jesus could cast out demons because of the Satanic power within Him. Jesus replies by telling them that Satan could not drive out demons because a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. He then comes at the issue again: "...how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house" (Matthew 12:29, NIV).

From the context, we understand that the "strong man" Jesus is referring to is Satan. Jesus says that the strong man's house can only be plundered after first tying up the strong man. Thus, it appears that Jesus is implying that Satan is (or will be) tied up so that His "house" (Earth) can be plundered. Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, so we may infer that the "possessions" that Jesus wants to "carry off" are human beings. We know from other passages that the people of the world are slaves to Satan until they are redeemed through Christ, so the fact that Jesus would refer to people as Satan's possessions shouldn't be too surprising to us. But what about this part about Satan being tied up? Isn't Satan "a roaring lion," roaming about to find someone to devour (see 1 Peter 5:8)?

Healing Training with God

I got sick last week with a nasty bug. I had a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, and a cough that rattled my lungs. I had recently been reading several ex-Pentecostal articles that were highly condemning of binding demons and casting out sickness, so I felt like my faith for speaking healing into myself was too low to have effect. So, I prayed a simple prayer to God, "God, will you please take away my headache?"

At the very same moment I finished speaking my request, my headache was completely gone. I thanked God for healing my headache. I then perceived God urging me in my spirit, "Ok, now it's your turn."

Depart From Me, I Never Knew You - Part 2

Let's look again at the Judgement Day passage in Matthew 7 and see if we can gain some more insights about who is being rejected from heaven. Here are the verses again, and I'll add some emphasis on words I want to pay extra attention to this time around:

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Matthew 7, NIV)

Depart From Me, I Never Knew You - Part 1

Consider the following words of Jesus:

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV)

When I was growing up, I read these verses under the impression that the people Jesus was talking about included "charismatics" and modern-day "faith healers." The Christian leadership I was under at that time painted a dim picture of the motives of modern-day miracle workers, pointing to this verse as just one evidence that "miracles" are usually associated with false teachers. But when I was reflecting on these verses yesterday, I had a much more chilling thought that hit a lot closer to home.

Dream About Deception of the Church

Let me share with you a dream I had the other night:

A powerful group of leaders announced that 5 Christians needed to be sacrificed in order for God's favor to remain on the world. 3 older gentlemen and 2 young ladies volunteered. Disturbed by the situation, I went to talk with the 2 ladies. I asked them, "Why are you doing this?"

One of the ladies replied, "It is my responsibility to serve God. I also organize a sports team and take care of my pet canary [she used examples of a similar nature, but I can't remember them], but those responsibilities don't compare to my responsibility to serve God."

The other lady replied in tears, "I thought that this would be for the best. Isn't this what God would want me to do?"

"God's Will"

As I've delved more into the topic of divine healing, it has become apparent to me that different camps of people have different things in mind when they talk about "God's Will." It is essential to clarify this term if the Christian community is to make any progress in understanding one another on the issue of divine healing (and many other essential doctrines). I will do my best to make relevant distinctions in this article in order to help us avoid future misunderstandings.

What is "God's Will"?
First off, let me point out two ways in which we can collect data about how God set up creation:

1. We observe past and present circumstances, note the outcome of each circumstance, and extrapolate to find general principles by which God operates.
2. We read God's Word, note the principles taught in each passage, and extrapolate to find general principles by which God operates.

More Thoughts on Healing

So... is it God's will to heal the sick, or not?

This question stirs up a lot of unnecessary controversy simply because people have different ideas of what the question actually means. [I'll leave that discussion for another post.] But for now, I think we can focus on another question in the neighborhood that has profound implications for our daily lives: Is it God's will for us (born-again followers of Jesus) to heal the sick?