What is God's Will for my life?

KNOWING GOD’S WILL

Ephesians 5:17–18 —Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

I've often heard people say they wondered what God's Will was, and I used to say that too until I realized that His will isn't hard to discover. It's in His Word. No, it won't tell us what car to buy, but it will tell us what our motive in buying the car should be and what our attitude should be about it, and that's a lot more then most folks have. I started a list of things that are God's Will for us who are saved. I say it that way, because if I was making a list for all people, including the unsaved, the first thing on it would be "to be saved". I only went up to 25 things, although I could have gone on much longer, but I thought you guys might want to add some things for yourselves.. I listed scriptures at the bottom, not in any particular order, but they do pertain to at least one of the 25 items I listed.

What is God's Will for those who've been saved?

1. To be sanctified
2. To do good works
3. To give thanks in all circumstances
4. To be eager to do good
5. To bear fruit that will last for His Kingdom
6. To declare His praises to others
7. To live for Him instead of ourselves
8. To bring praise to God
9. To become more and more like Jesus every day
10. To live a holy life instead of living like the rest of the world does
11. To grow to spiritual maturity & be fully assured
12. To be filled with His Spirit
13. To submit to those God has placed in authority over us
14. To do good so no one can say anything bad about you
15. To suffer for His sake
16. To avoid sexual immorality
17. To be Holy, perfect
18. To live a life of love; love God, love others; love sacrificially
19. To be joyful always
20. To pray continually
21. To give thanks in all circumstances
22. To fear God
23. To keep His commandments
24. To make sure God is before everyone and everything else in our lives.
25. To someday share in our Lord's gloryHere are a few more scriptures that talk about His Will for us:

1 Peter 1:2 — who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. *

1 Thessalonians 4:3 —It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; *

Ephesians 2:10 —For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. *

Titus 2:13–14 — while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. *

John 15:16 — You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. *

1 Peter 2:9 —But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. *

2 Corinthians 5:15 — And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. *

Ephesians 1:11–12 —In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Romans 8:29–30 —For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. *And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. *

2 Corinthians 3:18 —And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. *

2 Timothy 1:9 — who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, *

1 Thessalonians 4:7 —For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. *

2 Thessalonians 2:14 — He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. *

Mark 16:15 —He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. *

Ephesians 5:17–18 —Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. *Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. *

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 —Be joyful always; *pray continually; *give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. *

1 Peter 2:13–15 —Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, *or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. *For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. *

Romans 12:2 —Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Colossians 4:12 —Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. *

1 Peter 4:2 —As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. *

1 Peter 4:19 —So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. *

1 Peter 3:17 —It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. *

Matthew 22:37–40 —Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ *This is the first and greatest commandment. *And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ *All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” *

John 13:34–35 —“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. *By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 14:15 —“If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Leviticus 19:2 —“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. *

Matthew 5:48 —Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. *

1 Peter 1:15–16 —But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; *for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Ephesians 5:1–2 —Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children *and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. *

2 Peter 3:18 —But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. *

Hebrews 13:16 —And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. *

Ecclesiastes 12:13 —Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. *

Everything is going wrong!!!!

Everything is going wrong!!!!

I've heard so many people say that these last few years. I've even felt that way myself at times. I don't know how many times I've mentioned that because we're in the very last days of the End times that the Lord is letting all His Children know that playtime is over and it's time to get serious about their faith. This prophecy is coming true in our lives:

Malachi 3:18 (NIV84) — 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

It's sad, but one of the things that our generation has very little understanding of is God's sovereignty. We're quick to say, "God is in control", and yet, most really don't believe it. We'll find "other reasons" that bad things or even good things have happened. For bad things, we'll blame "mother nature", the weather, or maybe even Satan or demons if it's something really bad. We tend to forget that Satan can do nothing without the Lord allowing it. Then there's so many false teachings out there such as "sin in your life"causing everything bad that happens because it's a punishment, or the opposite false teaching that it's demons because we're under some kind of curse that the Lord wasn't strong enough to deliver us from at our salvation or isn't strong enough to do so now without our help. Because of these and other false teachings we tend to cringe away quickly of any thought that all the things going wrong in our lives could possibly be being caused or allowed by the Lord. After all, He loves us!

So, what does it mean when everything that can go wrong in our lives seems to be doing so, and what should or can we do about it? I've been thinking about this because I have a friend who is in this very situation and she's asked me this very question As I was praying and studying God's Word about this again today, I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to post this for everyone here instead of just keeping it to myself until I explain it to my friend.

I'd like to have us begin by looking at Hebrews today to see what the Lord has to say about this. I think Hebrews is appropriate because it was written for people who were living at the very end of their age, just as we are living at the very end of ours. When it was written the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing and sacrifices were still being offered, yet in just a few short years, it would all be destroyed and the people dead, slaves or scattered. The believers in Christ were mainly spared death and slavery because the Lord warned them to flee from Jerusalem and they did, but all those who weren't saved and those who hadn't made up their minds yet, those were left behind, and were either killed or taken captive as slaves. We too are living at the end of our age. Soon, we will be taken off this earth to reside with our Lord while the people left behind will suffer many horrors. The age of Grace is coming to a close.

Back then, many people, even Christians, were trusting in things besides God. They trusted in the sacrifices, in the temple, in their bloodline of being a descendant of Abraham, in works, in rituals, really in themselves, etc. It's really no different now. We still tend to trust in everything but the Lord, while saying that it's Him we trust. The Christians this was written to were 2nd generation believers and they were true believers. They'd been taught about Christ by those who'd known Him when He was still here on the earth, but since then, their first leaders had died and they were being seduced by false teachers. They were forgetting the Word they'd been taught because now the false teachers were perverting that Word. The false teachers were even using the fact that these true believers were going through so many trials to pervert their faith. (sounds familiar doesn't it? Since that's exactly what so many of the false teachers today do.)

It seems amazing to us today that anyone who'd learned from the very people who'd walked, talked and ate with the Lord, could backslide or get caught up in false teaching. If they weren't safe from that sort of thing, then how do we stand a chance??? I think that's at least part of the reason the Lord included this in His Word. Both as a warning to us to examine ourselves regularly to make sure we're on the right path (as He tells us to do) and to show us both how these first Christians got waylaid, and how they were able to return to the right path. Since these people were true believers, and were also feeling like their lives were falling apart and everything that could go wrong was going wrong, this book also helps us, as it did them, determine why this was happening to them. So let's join them and see what the Lord has to say to us about this.

I was just re-reading what I'd written so far and something occurred to me in relation to how it's hard for us to imagine anyone who lived then backsliding. I remember watching a video about a tribe in Africa (I think) that had been won to Christ awhile ago and now were finally receiving, for the first time, a bible, written in their own language. That video touched me in a way that I can't describe. To see these people, who quite obviously loved the Lord our God, so incredibly thankful for what to do them was an amazing miracle of not only having God's Very Word in their own language to read, but even having enough copies of it for them each to have one! Watching and listening to them, if you didn't know what was being said, you'd have thought that someone had been raised from the dead or something else just as miraculous. Men, women, children, teens, the elderly--they were all weeping and praising at the same time. It was amazing to watch and very convicting as well. You could see that those folks truly treasured God's Word--much of which they had already memorized since they didn't have a bible in their own language at all. The very way they held those Bible...as though they were worth more then all the gold, all the food, all the water on earth, as though it was fragile and yet at the same time as though they wanted to make sure it couldn't possibly get away from them. Their attitude reminded me of what my attitude was and what it should still be.

We know that Jesus Christ IS the Word and that His very Word has been given to us in the form of the bible we have today. Yes, the people who were blessed to live when Jesus was here on the earth, were blessed indeed, but we are too. Every time we open our Bibles, we are in fact reading the very words of the Lord our God--and I'm not just talking about the ones in red ink, but every word. God, the ONLY God, the very one who created our bodies in our mother's wombs, the One who made this earth we're living on and everything in it, gave us the words in this book so that we could live in a manner which would guarantee our salvation, guarantee our being able to spend eternity with Him, and guarantee us love, peace, and joy in our hearts all through this life as well. Remember how people treated Jesus when He was here? Many simply ignored Him. They were too busy to be bothered with what He had to say; others ridiculed Him; still others persecuted Him. Sounds just like what we do to His Word today doesn't it? I bet the people in that video I watched, would be just as shocked and surprised that we could backslide as we are that the first Christians could.

What does all this have to do with why everything is going wrong in our lives or with the book of Hebrews? It's relevant because the theme of Hebrews seems to be "We have God's Word, now what are we going to do with it or about it?" These wonderful believers the book was being written to, were backsliding because even before the false teachers came, they had begun drifting from God's Word. They had become lazy, or "slothful" about God's Word. They became apathetic and that always prevents any spiritual development. When we're not moving forward in our walk with Christ, when we're "at a standstill", that's a sign, for standing still is when we begin to drift from God and His Word; we get lazy about it and about our walk; and the very next thing to happen is that we find that instead of being at a stand still, we're beginning to backslide. Around that time too we may even begin to find ourselves doubting about His Word--be it doubting if our salvation is really secure or if we're saved at all or if He will do as He has promised. Even worse, if it goes on long enough, we can become unable to receive His Word and act on it because we've allowed our heart to be hardened by our sin of not staying in His Word. The only way out of that is to repent and confess our sin and get back into studying His Word with Him daily.

Hebrews 2:1–4 (NIV84) — 1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Hebrews 5:11–6:2 (ESV) — 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Hebrews 6:10–12 (ESV) — 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 3:12–13 (ESV) — 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So we can see that one of the first symptoms of backsliding, is a dullness toward the Bible. Instead of having a hunger or thirst for His Word, we begin to allow other things in our lives to interfere with our study time.

Sometimes I forget that someone reading a thread might not have read others I've written. If that's the case, I just want to point out that whenever I talk about spending time in God's Word, I'm not referring to spending 5-20 mins a day reading it, but am rather referring to time spent actually studying the Word with the Lord. When I say, "with the Lord" I mean that while you're studying it, you're asking Him for help in understanding it and applying it; you're asking Him questions about what you're studying/reading and listening as He guides you to the answers. On top of that, I'm also assuming that you're studying His Word in the manner that He's taught us to:

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One of the first rules for understanding the Bible is "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at it's primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied in the light of related passages and fundamental truths, clearly indicate otherwise." The next rule would be that the Bible interprets itself. God does NOT contradict Himself. So first make sure you are reading the verses in context and then find out what else God has to say about that subject. The better you know the whole Bible the better you'll understand everything. We don't believe that God wanted anything to be hard to learn or understand. We believe He purposely made it quite easy to understand the basics. Kinda like a game of chess. The game is easy to learn and play, but the better you get the more you get out of it. copied from: How to Read, Study and Understand the Bible

With that taken care of now , we can see that not spending time studying God's Word daily is very dangerous and it's also a sin. When everything is going wrong in our lives and we feel like we just don't have time to study, that's when we most NEED to study and should be sign to us that we don't have time to NOT study!

Most people don't realize that it's a sin not to study the Lord's Word, but basically when we don't do this, it's pretty much the same thing as if our earthly Father had left us a letter explaining how He wanted things done while He was away on a business trip, and we, knowing the letter is there and knowing that He not only expects us to read that letter, but also do what it says, just ignore it. Not a good idea to do to your earthly father and certainly not a good one to do to your Heavenly Father!

Now, what does all this have to do with things going wrong? Well, if we go back to the example I just gave about ignoring a letter of instruction from our earthly father, what do you think God is going to do if we ignore His letters of instruction?

Hebrews 12:5–13 (NIV84) — 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

I am NOT saying that everything bad that someone's going through is because God is disciplining them. It's always dangerous to generalize, be it about others or about yourself. What I am saying though is that this is something we all should always take into consideration, and examine ourselves to see if it's true for us at that time. And not only examine ourselves about it, but also talk to the Lord about it and see what He has to say. Although right now, in this thread, we're discussing how God disciplines us for ignoring His Word, He also disciplines us for other things as well, so we should include that in our self examination as well. Have we been ignoring His Word? Have we been allowing other things in our lives get in the way of our studies with Him? Have we been living in unconfessed sin in some other way?

What Hebrews is telling us here as that we need to view our trials, all the stuff that's going wrong in our lives, as spiritual discipline from the Lord that will help us to become mature in our faith. The scripture he quoted was/is from proverbs and is something that these Christians knew about and had forgotten because they'd become dull and apathetic toward the Word and their walk with Christ.

One thing that we often can't see at first is how what's being said in those verses can be encouraging to us like the author says it's meant to be. It's encouraging though because instead of telling us how bad we are, he's actually reminding us that the very fact that we're going through all this stuff in our lives is a sign that we ARE true believers and that we are saved! Not only that, but the very words such as "children" and "sons" that are used in the original language, actually refer to "adult sons" and not to "little children". So we know that we are really saved and that the Lord sees us as adult children who are (or at least were) maturing in our faith, but have slowed down and need a bit of discipline to get us moving in the right direction again. If we in turn see what the Lord has allowed in our lives as opportunities to grow in our faith and mature even more, then these trials are really no longer trials at all but instead are cause for rejoicing!

Our Heavenly Father is a perfect father, unlike earthly ones. While some earthly fathers can be mean and cruel, God most certainly isn't! Everything He does is done out of love for us and a desire for us to be the very best we can be. Any parent that would repeatedly discipline an infant or very young child that doesn't know any better would be considered a monster and should be considered that! The Lord even says that anyone who harms a little child is going to wish they'd never been born. So at the very least, as I said before, this proves to us that the Lord sees us as maturing adults and wants us to continue to mature. I can't speak for others, but I know that is very encouraging to me!

Quote:

What Hebrews is telling us here as that we need to view our trials, all the stuff that's going wrong in our lives, as spiritual discipline from the Lord that will help us to become mature in our faith. The scripture he quoted was/is from proverbs and is something that these Christians knew about and had forgotten because they'd become dull and apathetic toward the Word and their walk with Christ.

I've noticed that over the last three years people seem to have more trials in their lives then ever before. It often seems that before one trial is over another has begun or even 2 or 3 more have begun! So often I've heard (and said myself), "I just can't take anymore!" I've mentioned a number of times that at least part of the reason for this is simply because we ARE living in the last days of our Age, The Age of Grace. We have come full circle and the Lord is trying to get everyone's attention. For those who aren't saved, He wants them saved. For those who are saved but haven't yet made Him Lord of their lives, He wants them to take that next step and allow Him to be in charge of our lives. For those who have already made that decision, He's asking them to reach even higher and further, to be perfect, (that word actually means "complete" or "mature") even as He is.

I imagine that if we could see and hear what's going on in the spiritual realm, that we'd be very surprised at all the activity right now. To put it on an earthly level, you could imagine that a warning siren was going off, to get everyone's attention because this IS our last chance. It's the last chance for people to be saved BEFORE the rapture; it's the last chance for people to make Jesus Lord of their lives and live for Him instead of themselves; it's the last chance for us to be obedient; it's the last chance we have to grow in our faith and become mature, and it's our last chance to earn eternal rewards.

So, why is everything going wrong in YOUR life right now? Well, for one thing, the answer to that depends where you stand with the Lord right now. When times like this happen we need to do what the Lord urges us each to do and examine ourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5–7 — 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. 7 Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.

If we're saved, we don't need to examine if we're saved or not, so what are we to examine ourselves about? We're to examine ourselves to see where we are in regards to sanctification. As we are sanctified, we're made more holy, we grow in our love and faith. What we're to examine is to see where we are in that process--are we growing? Are we being obedient to the Lord? Who is in charge of our lives? Us or God? Who do we do things for everyday? Us or God? Who (or what) do we put first every day? To stand the test or examination is to do what's right, to be demonstrating in your daily life the fruit of the spirit and to be always growing in your faith. To fail the test is to be being disobedient and under God's discipline.

Jesus told us to call God our "Father" and called us His children. God treats us very much as a father would treat his children. (or a mother). If my children refused to go to school or refused to do their homework, I would discipline them. They wouldn't like it and they would see it as a trial, but it would only be a trial because they had failed to do the things they knew they were supposed to do. That little phrase "knew they were supposed to do" is very important for that too is how God treats us. He doesn't discipline a baby or new Christian for things that they don't know about. What does happen is that the Holy Spirit guides each new Christian to read their bible and study it, pray, and go to church etc. (assuming that new Christian isn't in a third world country, knows how to read etc) This is how the new Christian learns about God, His ways and His Will. If the new Christian stops reading, studying, praying etc, they don't lose their salvation, but they do come under God's discipline. It's the same things with false teaching. If a Christian falls for false teaching and of course doesn't realize it's false, God doesn't discipline them for it; He will instead show them in His Word that it's false, send someone to show them that it's false, etc. Once the person has been told/shown that it is false, if they then continue in the teaching, God will discipline them for it until they repent.

This is an area that gave me pause and caused me to think on it for some time, because in a way, I felt like I was "tattling" on a brother or sister when I explained to them that something they were believing in was false. I knew that if they didn't accept the Truth, that the Lord would discipline them and of course I didn't want them to have to be disciplined, but at the same time I knew that I had to be obedient and speak the truth in love, or I'd be under His discipline.  But the Lord showed me that by doing His Will I would ultimately be helping both myself and others:

1 Timothy 4:16 — 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

When everything is going wrong in our lives then, we need to examine ourselves closely and prayerfully and see where we are in our walk with the Lord.

Is there unrepented sin in our lives?

Are we continuing to do or believe some doctrine that we've been shown by others is false? (that doesn't mean we should simply accept what others say, but it means that we need to take it seriously and really check into it and study the Bible ourselves to see if it's true)

Are we continuing to grow in our faith? If we look at the list of the fruit of the spirit, can we see if that fruit is not only in our lives but is it growing stronger and more plentiful in our lives? (remember, the fruit doesn't come about by our trying to change, but rather by God changing us from the inside out through His Word.)

Galatians 5:22–23 — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Isaiah 32:17 — 17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.

James 3:17 — 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Are we studying the bible everyday with the Lord? That is probably the most basic question we should each ask ourselves. There is nothing on this earth more important then our relationship with the Lord and nothing more important then His Word, the Bible. Nothing! I've told my grandchildren that if they have 10 different college degrees that's nice but it won't do a thing for them--at least nothing of eternal value; if however they have studied God's Word with Him diligently every day, THAT will earn them more then they or I can even imagine, plus it will enable them to use those earthly degrees to please Him which in turn will cause them to perhaps be worth something eternally.

There's a verse that I know I tended to just skim over for a long time. But this is telling us why we're to study the bible daily:

Ephesians 5:25–27 — 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Again it goes back to sanctification--being made holy; becoming mature in our faith. God wants to have a personal relationship with us and since He is not here with us physically, He has given us the wonderful gifts of His Holy Spirit and His Word. We ignore them and downplay them at our own peril. This is probably one of the biggest causes of trials in peoples lives because today people tend to leave their bibles on a shelf somewhere or perhaps do a quick "devotional" (often out of another book and not even the Bible) or they'll spend a dutiful 5-15 minutes a day reading the bible, but it doesn't change them.

God tells us over and over again that the way to know if someone is saved is if their life has changed and they are bearing spiritual fruit. We all know too that people that aren't saved can have some of those things in their lives and people can also fake it, at least for awhile. People can even deceive themselves and think they have that fruit in their lives because they're trying so hard in their own strength to produce it; they don't realize that true spiritual fruit isn't born in us through our own efforts but instead we're changed from the inside out, by God not ourselves; and that change happens, we become more and more sanctified, as we study the Bible with Him daily apply what we learn.

Yet another area to look at is again how you are living your life. Are you living it for yourself, God, or the world? If we can look at an unsaved neighbor and not see much difference in how we're living our lives, then that should be a HUGE warning signal to us!

James 4:4–5 — 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

On the other hand, if we're living as we should be, then we should be experiencing some kind of persecution for it:

John 15:19–21 — 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

For some the persecution may simply be losing friends or potential friends because they choose the world and sin over God and you. This is one area that if we examine our lives and see this is happening, that we can know that we are indeed living in God's Will for instead of being disciplined, the trials we are experiencing related to persecution for our faith, are actually showing us that we're doing our job well!

There are also other things that we consider "bad" that can happen to us that aren't discipline or punishment--at least not for us. For example if we read Ezekiel 24:1–27 we see that God used Ezekiel's wife's death to show Israel what was going to happen. So don't think that because something "bad" is happening, it's definitely because you've done or are doing something wrong. (this is already way too long so I'll have to cover this stuff later)

Even Christians who have become somewhat mature can backslide for all kinds of reasons and spend years living for themselves. One day they're studying the Bible with Him and growing in their faith, and then (usually because of things going on in their lives) they little by little stop studying and praying and the next thing they know, time has gone by and they look at themselves and see that they look and act exactly like unsaved people do!

Matthew 13:22 — 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

Yes, they're still saved, but they aren't living for the Lord, they're living for themselves and the world instead. In fact our Lord's parable about the seed is a good way to check yourself and see where you are in your walk. Let me post it all for us because our Lord obviously wants all of us to be like the seed that fell on good soil: (the purpose of posting this one isn't to debate who's saved and who's not, but simply to show those of us who ARE saved, what our lives should look like)

Matthew 13:19–23 — 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Keep in mind here that the Lord says that we are saved so that we will bear fruit (produce a crop) for Him:

John 15:16 — 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

Now, let's look and see what happens when we don't bear fruit for Him:

Hebrews 6:7–8 — 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

This isn't talking about losing our salvation. This is instead talking about backsliding and/or not growing in our faith. We do not go to hell for that; instead we are disciplined. Remember the bible often refers to God as a "refining fire". He is always refining us. And at the end, when we are before God at the Bema Judgment, only the fruit we bear for Him will last, the rest will be "burned up".

1 Corinthians 3:10–15 — 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Then if we go back to the verses in Hebrews and look at what he says next, we see what the Lord wants from us:

Hebrews 6:9–12 — 9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

As you can see, the Lord wants us to be diligent and persevere in His Word so that we can grow and bear fruit that will last. I could quite literally post hundreds of verses to show you that God expects us to study His Word with Him daily. When we do that, our love for Him grows, our love for others grows, we begin to bear spiritual fruit and if we already have some, then it begins to proliferate more and more; we learn more about our God, His Will for us, for others and the world in general and of course this is how we become spiritually mature. On the other hand, when we don't do this, or when we slack off or stop altogether, it causes us to backslide, and to become vulnerable to attack by the world, our flesh and Satan. It also causes us to be under the Lord's discipline for not being obedient to Him.

The Bottom Line:

The bottom line of how to find out why these things are happening in our lives is that we have to examine ourselves and we should do so prayerfully with God's help. All the things I've spoken about so far are simply areas we can look at to see if our lives are lining up with what they should be. If they aren't, then we need to confess that to the Lord and repent of it, asking Him to help us to turn around and get back into His Will. Remember, as we search our hearts and life with His help, we should never forget that God loves us, and everything He does, including disciplining us, is because He loves us. It's nice to know too that whenever we do search our hearts and determine to get back in His Will over whatever we've discovered that's wrong, that the Lord always blesses us twice as much. It seems like for every step we take in the right direction, the Lord just showers blessings on us. He wants us to be victorious in this life and He wants to help us live a life of victory, so He rejoices for every step we take in the right direction!

While I don't think it's possible for any of us to examine ourselves and not discover some thing or some area that we could be doing better at and need to work on, that doesn't mean that the reason everything is going wrong in your life right now is because of those things. I'm just trying to give us some basic general areas to look at to see if the shoe fits so to speak. Plus as I said earlier, sometimes things happen that we consider bad that have nothing to do with us. Really then all we can do is what the Lord says, examine ourselves and see if the shoe fits.

OK, so let's say that you've examined yourself prayerfully and you honestly feel that you're not being disciplined as you're studying His Word daily, & living for Him the best you can. Sure, you sin every day, but you always repent and confess it because you don't want to sin. So what's another reason "bad things" could be happening now?

Another thing the Lord often does is use the events in our lives to help us learn whatever lesson He's working with us on. This is NOT discipline, as you're not constantly or consistently doing something He doesn't want you to or not doing something He wants you to. I think the easiest way to explain this is to give an example from my own life that happened recently. To do that however, I need to give you a bit of background so you'll understand, so bear with me here....

I don't want to go into a lot of detail, so let me just say that I have lost everything I own, except for the clothes on my back and the clothes my children were wearing 3 times in my life. And I really do mean "everything". It did teach me that "things" aren't so important, but at the same time, security became very important to me, including "financial security".

One of the big lessons the Lord tries to teach each of us is to trust Him and rely on Him; and more then that, to realize that He is our provider, not the government, not insurance, not our jobs or paychecks, not our spouse etc. Just Him. This is a big lesson though and after you've finally learned this, for most people, like me, it involves many "refresher courses".  That's because the Lord doesn't want it to be just "head knowledge", He wants it to be heart knowledge too.

Before I met Bruce I was being paid minimum wage and it was all I had to support my 5 children. Every day was a lesson in trusting the Lord and managing my money His way. After Bruce and I were married, things were much easier for me as we had his income too and I was able to relax some.

Then about 12 years ago I got hurt at work and became disabled due to chronic back pain. This was my next big lesson. Suddenly, we were down to one income again. The Lord knew I needed this reminder that He was our provider, not Bruce. By then I'd been hit up side the head enough times that it didn't take me long at all to realize that this was my refresher course. I realized that when things had been easier financially, in very short order I'd forgotten who the real provider was. That's why I panicked when I got hurt and couldn't work. As I went over the familiar passages in the bible, I was able to take my thoughts captive and replace them with the Truth that God would provide and all I had to do was trust Him. It was a fight at first because the negative thoughts from the world and the way the world programs us to think, kept trying to invade my mind. As time went on though I was able to gain control with the Lord's help. It's easy to say we trust Him but entirely different to actually do it!

Things were tough at first, but the Lord did provide. Sometimes I wasn't even sure how He did it...it seemed impossible, but He always did. I remember one month in particular that the numbers simply wouldn't add up no matter how often I went over them. There was simply no way we could have payed our bills. What's weird though is that we DID pay them and nothing bounced--the money WAS there. I just didn't know how in the world it got there! Well, I knew it was from the Lord, but usually He uses other people or places to help you, but this time there was no physical trail to follow!

It took time, but soon the Lord had me back where He wanted me--where I was trusting Him to provide and acknowledging Him as the provider. Then it was like the heavens opened and the blessings came down. Bruce got a much better job and we were able to buy this house. Once again things became easier. (That was about 9 years ago) At first, remembering my mistake from last time, I reminded myself who was really providing for us, but eventually, I began to forget again....We had money to pay the bills and that's all that was important. Time for another refresher course.

About 3 years ago Bruce got laid off. Now we had no income!  This time I did a little better though. The last lesson had stuck with me a bit more so at least this time I didn't panic. I remembered who the real provider was. But that doesn't mean that it was easy this time. No way! Once more my mind tried to fill with all kinds or worldly programing: worries, fears, (real and imagined) etc. It was once more a fight to gain control of both my thoughts and emotions and bring them into obedience to God. Bruce was laid off for a total of two years. I posted a praise report about this time in my life about half way through it and would like to share just one sentence of it with you:

Quote:

If the Lord hadn't made sure that I had grown enough in Him to face this, I would have fallen flat on my face and probably been in a psych ward within the first three months easily.

That's how the Lord works. He never, ever, gives us more then we can handle. And He never gives us a test in algebra until we've mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and anything else we might need first. Oh, I didn't like it, and I didn't want to handle it, but I could handle it with His help. That's another mistake we often make too. We often forget that while we may not be able to handle it, the Lord can, and He will do so through us if we allow Him to. The reason we start to fall apart is because we're trying to carry the whole load instead of letting Him take His share. Another nice thing about the Lord is that He always takes the lions share of the load for us and never expects us to carry even half of it. That's why Jesus says to take His yoke on us, for His yoke IS easy and light. It's when we're pulling in the opposite direction from Him or trying to carry the whole load our self that we get in trouble.

By the end of these two years, I felt that I had finally learned this lesson and that it was no longer head knowledge but heart knowledge. I prayed that was true because I knew that once I have this lesson down pat, I won't need such drastic refresher courses!

My husband finally was able to get another job and I thought everything would be fine. The lesson was over. Sounds right doesn't it? Nope! I was so wrong! Once more it seemed like everything went wrong. This time it only lasted a few weeks but those few weeks seemed like a year! While we'd made it through two years with nothing but unemployment, we'd still paid our bills, and now all of a sudden we were really struggling! It was worse then when Bruce was unemployed! I finally "got it" though. Guess what I'd done mentally when Bruce went back to work? I didn't use the words but inside, in my heart, I was so relieved that he was working again that I'd thought of his new employer like a "savior" of sorts!  I can be such an idiot! 

The Lord straightened my out on that right quick  and things once again went back to "normal". (please understand that I'm condensing a tremendous amount as otherwise this would take way too long to tell. Obviously there was more to it then just me thinking of his new job as our financial savior) I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief come summertime this year, thinking that my lessons (at least on this subject) were over. But the Lord had a BIG surprise for me. We inherited some money unexpectedly! It wasn't a lot of money..at least most people wouldn't think so, but for us it sure was!

Turns out that i was both right and wrong in thinking my lessons about finances, God being our provider, and trusting Him, were over. In one sense they were, but in another, totally unexpected way, everything had been turned on it's head and I was having to learn to trust Him in a totally different way!  I'd heard before that having plenty of money could be very stressful, but I don't think I ever really believed that. I could imagine some ways that it could be, but I always thought it couldn't be that bad. Well, within a few weeks I was more stressed then I had been in any of the time in the last 3 years!  When I finally confessed that to the Lord, I realized what it was that I was supposed to be learning. It was that regardless of the amount of money we had, whether it was nothing, just enough, or more then we needed, that I STILL needed to trust the Lord and I STILL needed His help, wisdom and guidance!  Once I realized that, (and began to actively seek His guidance and listen to Him) the stress was gone and I was able to relax and enjoy the respite while it lasted.

So there's an example of how God uses the circumstances in our lives, (or at times brings those circumstances about) to help us go from head knowledge of the things He's been showing us in His Word to heart knowledge of them.

In conclusion: If everything is going wrong in your life, first examine yourself prayerfully with the Lord and see if there's some area that He could be disciplining you for. If you don't see anything, come right out and ask Him! He will let you know! Don't be afraid to ask Him--the whole purpose of discipline isn't to punish us, it's to teach us and get us to comply with His Will. So He wants you to know "why". But, if after that, you still don't feel that you're being disciplined for something, consider whether or not the Lord could be trying to teach you a lesson. Is He trying to help you take your head knowledge and make it heart knowledge? Again, this isn't punishment. This is a loving Father working WITH you to teach you an important lesson that will serve you well all your life. And again, if this is what He's doing, He wants you to know about it so you can learn, so don't be afraid to ask Him about it and talk to Him about it. That's what He wants you to do! Just like when we're young and in school and the teacher gives us homework that we think is hard. The teacher isn't giving it to punish us, but to help us learn. A good teacher will also help us if there are portions we just don't understand since to not help us, would defeat the entire purpose. That's how the Lord works with us too. Remember, the Lord isn't angry at you, He loves you and is trying to help you.

Now we've covered being disciplined and learning lessons, but there's still other possibilities too. I'll try and discuss those tomorrow God willing. But if anyone has any questions I'll be more then happy to answer them!

Hebrews 12:7–11 — 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

 

 You know, I can't believe I left this out, but when someone reminded me about the study on forgiveness it reminded me as well that I hadn't included that here as another one of the reasons that can cause us to be going through all kinds of trials. One of the main things we're commanded to do by the Lord once we're saved is to love others and in loving them we're also commanded to forgive them. In the parable of the unforgiving Servant, the Lord explains to us that if we don't forgive others, then the Lord won't forgive us and will discipline us until we do.

Matthew 18:21–35 (NIV) — Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

When God first convicts us of our sin and we're saved, we realize just how big our sin is and that no matter how hard we tried, we could never work it off. That causes us to realize just how merciful and loving and forgiving the Father is to be willing to forgive us and save us. When someone else wrongs us, or our feelings are hurt for some reason, the Lord wants us to remember what He forgave us for and that He loved us in spite of how awful we were and so forgive them as well because we were all slaves to sin before we were saved. When we refuse to forgive, for any reason, demanding instead that we be "repaid", we're doing the exact same thing the unforgiving servant in this story did, and the Lord see us that way and so disciplines us until we do truly forgive them.

Of course there are a great many other scriptures and there's also the parable of the prodigal son that talks about this too. Since I'm just not up to explaining it though let me include what MacArthur says about this in one of his books:

When God does need to chasten believers for any grievous sin, it is perfectly evenhanded, more so than any king’s punishment could be. The Lord, while always angry at sin, disciplines his own because He loves them (Heb. 12:6, Heb. 10–11). If they forget the forgiveness they’ve received (as the first slave did) and refuse to forgive fellow believers, God causes them to endure such “torturers” as stress, hardships, troubled consciences, and other trials until they deal with the sin. James says: “Judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy” (Jas. 2:13).

I believe the lesson of the parable is clear: any believer who offends a fellow believer has offended God much more, and God has forgiven him; therefore, the offended believer should always be willing to forgive the brother or sister who sins against him or her and asks to be forgiven. Christians must always reflect God’s forgiveness because they have experienced that same forgiveness.
Genuine forgiveness, however, does not excuse the wrongs of others. Compassion and mercy will not rationalize an offense away but will always call it what it is. But in confronting a sin, the forgiving believer will eliminate bitterness and all other negative feelings that can only increase the sin rather than eliminate it. ....

MacArthur, J. (1998). The pillars of Christian character : The basic essentials of a living faith (91–92).

There is one other scripture I want to share though since it's important:

Matthew 6:15 (NIV) — But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This is not talking about our salvation and has nothing to do with our salvation, which is why I wanted to bring it up since sometimes people get confused about this. Here the Lord is saying exactly what we spoke about above, which is simply that because the Lord loved us and forgave us while we were still His enemies, He expects the same behavior from us. When we misbehave and don't show love and forgiveness to someone for whatever reason, then He withholds His forgiveness for our unforgiveness and disciplines us for it until we really do forgive. The way He disciplines us is what we usually call trials, and those will continue until we truly do forgive and have made things right between us and the other person and of course with the Lord. Our salvation and eternity in Heaven is not threatened. That's not what He's saying. What is affected is our relationship with the Lord. We cannot be in a close personal relationship with Him and also be unforgiving toward someone else at the same time. This is true of any sin, not just the sin of unforgiveness. Once we are saved, we'll always be saved; what's affected is our relationship with Him. This is why we're so often told to abide, walk, live, or remain in Him. As long as we're abiding In Him, we are in a good personal relationship with Him, and we're not sinning. It's when we forget to abide in Him that we sin and we're not going to be able to have that close association with Him again until we confess that sin and repent of it and that includes the sin of unforgiveness. The main difference is that because forgiveness itself is basic to our own salvation in that the Lord forgave us of all our sins, not requiring that we pay Him back, He expects us to extend the same mercy to others who have hurt us. When we don't, it's like a slap in the face to Him; like we're saying that we don't think much of all that He's forgiven us for. That's why He will discipline us for that sin.

So, if everything is going wrong in our lives, this is yet another area to look into to see if it might be true of us.

 

 

 

When reading some other threads today, I was reminded strongly of this one. People tend to always react in one of several ways when things are going wrong like this in their lives.

1. They'll turn to God and His Word for help and wisdom because that's what they do every day;

2. they'll turn to Him trying to grab hold of a promise, not realizing that the promises generally have conditions--such as Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) — You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. He keeps those believers in peace who are always thinking about Him and who trust Him. That's what I'm talking about. If you're full of anxiety about something and constantly going over it in your mind, you cannot expect Him to bless you with peace because you're not being obedient. You're not trusting Him, and you're thinking of the situation instead of about Him. So they run to Him in trouble, pray, grab a promise and leave Him again. And then they wonder why things aren't getting any better.

3. They'll decide that since the things that are happening to them are bad, that it's being caused by Satan. At that point they get out their books on spiritual warfare and being binding and casting out this spirit and that spirit and Satan himself and his plans and all kinds of stuff to protect themselves from him.

4. They'll get angry at God for not helping them and for letting all this stuff happen to them even though they're saved and go to church!

5. Even though they haven't been doing it regularly, they'll turn to God and His Word and ask Him for wisdom and help; and then realizing that they've been disobedient by not studying daily, they stay in His Word and make it their habit.

I'm sure that all of you know which of those ways are the ones that the Lord wants to see from us. Either the first one or the last one. Those are scriptural ways to respond to trials and suffering.

Remember how I said at the start of this that one of the things that's important to understand (especially during times of trial) is God's sovereignty? When we understand His sovereignty and that He and His Word are quite literally all that we need for life, then we won't have to worry about running Satan and his demons off, binding them, casting them someplace or ordering them about.

Shortly after I got saved, I got all caught up in the spiritual warfare stuff and bought into all of it. Thankfully the Lord quickly showed me how very wrong that was. I've talked about that before but would like to share a bit about it here since so often folks decide that their trials are being caused by Satan. Here are some of the things the Lord pointed out to me:

1. Satan cannot do anything to us unless he has permission from the Lord first. Two quick examples of this off the top of my head are Job and Peter. Remember in Job, before anything bad happened to him, Satan had to get permission from God and he couldn't go outside the limits God imposed on him. There's a number of verses that talk about this but I'm only going to post one of them:

Job 1:12 (NIV) — The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Peter: Remember before Christ went to the cross, what He said to Peter?

Luke 22:31–32 (NIV) — “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

And the Lord obviously gave Satan permission to do this and Peter did fail at first and denied our Lord. However, true to His Word, the Lord strengthened Peter and used the experience for His Good and the good of many others as well.

Another quick example would be Saul. Remember how the Lord sent a demon to torment him?

So Satan and his group can't touch us without permission. There's simply no ands, ifs or buts about it.

2. We can see from His Word that the Lord allows Satan to cause us trials for a number of reasons, and I'm sure there are probably more reasons that He hasn't told us about too. I believe that I've covered that before but can do so again later if anyone wants me too.

3. God is stronger then Satan. That sounds obvious I know, but we seem to constantly forget this. And we forget too that God is dwelling within us. So if Satan can't do anything without His permission, and if God allows Satan to do things in order to refine our faith, discipline us or any number of other reasons, then why do we get so freaked out about it and think we need all kinds of formulas and stuff to get rid of him? In fact, if he's doing it with God's permission, should we even be trying to make him stop????

Think about that for just a minute. It really took me by surprise, let me tell you! Let's look at Paul for a minute. Remember, he said that God had sent a demon ( a messenger of Satan) to keep him from being conceited because of all the revelations God had given him. What did Paul do when that happened? Paul prayed three different times and asked the Lord to remove it. Paul knew it was happening because God had allowed it, so he didn't try and make it stop himself; instead, he prayed and asked the Lord to stop it. What was God's reply? He said, "no!" He had allowed it for a reason and He didn't want it stopped. Now, what if Paul had instead started trying to bind this demon or cast it out and send it somewhere, or rebuked it, etc instead? Of course it wouldn't have worked, but that's besides the point right now. Are you seeing how ridiculous that would have been? By doing those things we're basically telling God that we don't care what He wants or allows, that we know better then He does and, if that wasn't bad enough, we're also telling him that we think we're stronger then He is and we're going to take care of it ourselves! What arrogance on our parts!

Oh I know, and remember, that we're supposedly doing it in His Name and His strength, but we can't be, because that goes against His Word. We're really just lying to ourselves. We want it stopped and we're gonna buy into anything that might make it stop.

When I fell prey to this teaching, they were really getting into generational curses and that too is a lie. All this modern day spiritual warfare stuff is just silliness and sin. God convicted me of the sin of it and showed me how silly it was with just one sentence in one verse:

John 15:3 (NIV) — You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.


And you know what? I believed and believe it still. God is greater then Satan, greater then his demons, and when He saved me, He set me free from everything.

Since then, I've learned so much from God's Word about God's sovereignty and I've learned to trust Him, so I no longer have to worry about Satan or his demons. I know they can't hurt me, and the Lord tells us and has shown us, exactly how we're to deal with Satan. The most important things the Lord says we're to do are the things I talk about all the time: Stay in His Word and in constant touch with Him; resist temptation, literally flee from it, and live your life as one who knows that the Lord loves them and that everything that happens to them will be worked out for their good. What that's really saying is to live your life trusting Him, that no matter what, it will all work out the way it's supposed to.
 

 

 

When I first got caught up in the spiritual warfare teachings, I remember that they did use bible verses to "prove" their points. I honestly don't remember many of them as this happened many years ago and I've been free of it for a very long time. What I do recall is how the Lord showed me that they were doing nothing more then twisting scripture so that it would say what they wanted it to. This was when the Lord began teaching me about false teachers and how they worked. I'm not going to get into any of that here as it would simply take to long. What I would like to do instead is show you some of the things He showed me that shows that we don't need anything other then God and His Word. We don't need to bind, cast out, or rebuke any demon or Satan. We don't need to go through rituals to bless our homes or "plead the blood of Jesus" or find out who the principal demons are in a region or what the sins of our ancestors were, break strongholds, or anything like that. That's all honestly just really silly when you see the truth of what scripture says. God's Word does not lie:

Romans 8:37–39 (NIV) — No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Colossians 2:15 (NIV) — And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

1 Peter 3:22 (NIV) — who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Jesus already conquered Satan! He is God and He is sovereign. Nothing, not Satan, not his demons, and not their plans or schemes can touch us without God's knowledge and permission. And even if the Lord gives them permission (which He does do at times), He tells us that ultimately they cannot hurt us or separate us from Him. The best they can do, is the one thing they're very good at, and that's lie to us and make us think they have hurt us. Did you notice too the first part of the scripture from Romans? We are conquers and it doesn't say that we conquered by the skin of our teeth, but says we're MORE then conquerors!

Did you also notice HOW we are conquerors? It isn't by doing any of those things the false teachers talk about, it's through Jesus! Jesus is sufficient to meet ALL our needs. He is sufficient to meet our physical needs, or mental and emotional needs, our spiritual needs, ALL our needs!

2 Corinthians 3:5–6 (ESV) — Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV) — And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) — But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I guess the big difference in how the Bible views spiritual warfare and today's teachings is that the Bible teaches that Jesus already won the war and while we are still involved in the conflict to a certain extent, the outcome doesn't depend on us and doesn't hang in the balance, because Jesus has already won. Nor are we called on to actually fight against Satan or his demons. God does that, not us! Instead, we're told to "stand firm" and to be strong in the Lord, because it's His might that protects us and keeps us. We aren't supposed to be out looking for Satan or his minions, we're simply to stand firm and be alert. He's the one looking for us, not the other way around!

Ephesians 6:10 (NIV) — Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

1 Peter 5:8–9 (NIV) — Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

James 4:7–8 (NIV) — Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Romans 16:19 (NIV) — Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV) — Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What exactly does the Lord want us to do when we think we're being attacked by Satan? The same thing Paul did and others did. Paul didn't try to fight Satan, instead, he submitted himself to God. We're to make sure that we're living in a manner that's pleasing to God; keep our hearts pure by confessing sins when we become aware of them, and keep our focus and thoughts on God and His Word. In other words, we're to become experts in righteousness and concentrate on growing in love and knowledge of Christ.

I know, that doesn't sound nearly as exciting as doing the spiritual warfare stuff that's taught today, but, it's the truth. Why is it that we'll study anything hard and long, except for God's Word??? I did it myself! Back when I first got saved, I poured over those books about spiritual warfare. When I look back and remember that now, it's embarrassing to me because it must have looked like those books were my bible and not the Word of God. And you know what? They were! We get into this so much that it actually becomes an idol to us and we fool ourselves into thinking it's not because, after all, we're reading "about" God's Word. (or so they say anyway).

Every single one of today's teachings about spiritual warfare say the same thing. They say loud and clear that the person does not understand or perhaps doesn't want to understand, God's sovereignty; that they don't trust God, and that they think God can't or won't take care of them without their help. And all of those are some pretty serious sins.

I said that they might not want to understand about God's sovereignty because the world has taught us a false notion of what love is. Anything we see as "bad" or undesirable, we just cannot fathom that God would allow it in our lives. So, we decide it must therefore be from Satan. But we go further then that. We also automatically decide that God doesn't want it in our lives. That's what the WOF people teach and, believe it or not, that's the idea behind much of the spiritual warfare stuff of today.

Let's really think about that now though, remembering again that Satan must have permission from God to do anything at all to us, or to affect us in any way. Who really gave that thorn in the flesh to Paul? Yes, we know it was Satan, but God used Satan and God wanted that thorn there for His purpose, so it was part of God's Will. We talk about Jesus dying on the cross all the time without blinking and I would certainly consider that a "bad thing", but again, it was God's Will. We could go on and on about this. We have a tendency though to reject that anything bad could possibly be from God or that there could possibly be any good reason for it. .

When I read this scripture now, I can see that it's speaking directly against what people call spiritual warfare today:

Jude 8–10 (NIV) — In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.

Let's look at that closely... First it says they're rejecting authority; what authority are they rejecting? All authority including the authority of Scripture. Instead of studying it and learning what it says, they slander celestial beings! They talk about stuff they don't understand! Even Michael, who is the head of all the angels, doesn't dare to rebuke Satan, and yet people are telling believes that they should do so! Even Michael understood that his sufficiency was from God and not to rely on himself..

We've talked about how Paul didn't try to fight against Satan or demons when they frustrated him over the "thorn in his flesh". Instead, he simply prayed to God and submitted himself to God. Here's another incident where Satan got to Paul:

1 Thessalonians 2:17–18 (NIV) — But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.

Do you think that Paul finally started binding Satan then, or maybe he "canceled" all Satan's schemes against him, or maybe prayed up a hedge of protection around himself? Nope. he still didn't. If anyone could do those things, I would certainly expect that Paul and the other apostles could, and yet not once did any of them do any such thing.

And here's another scripture that's really amazing! This one shows Jesus, before he came to the earth and He doesn't rebuke Satan!

Zechariah 3:1–2 (NIV) — Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

Where in the world do we get the idea that we should do so when even Jesus wouldn't! What we can do though is study God's Word and apply it to our lives, and if we feel we're under attack, then all we have to do is pray to God, knowing He will answer. (just keep in mind that His answer isn't always the one we want to hear--just like the one He gave Paul wasn't the one Paul was hoping for)

Even if you only think about this new spiritual warfare stuff logically, without even looking at God's Word, you can see it really doesn't do anything. If God had really given us the power to do these things and wanted us to do them, by now there wouldn't be an active demon left as they'd all have been bound by now; and Satan would be so tied up, he'd be out of commission too. It sure looks to me like he's still active and so are his demons, so apparently that stuff doesn't work anyway.

Plus, I keep thinking about Jesus and how He handled Satan's direct attacks against Him when He was here. He didn't do any of those things either and we're told that He's our example to live by. He's our role model. What He did though is what He wants us to do. He knew God's Word and He used it. He used it just like we talk about doing in the Stress,worry,fear etc & the Christian thread. He countered Satan's lies with God's Truth. In fact, take a real close look that this verse:

Matthew 4:1 (NIV) — Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Who led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted? We'd say Satan did it, but it wasn't Satan, it was the Holy Spirit! And again this shows that God uses Satan for His sovereign purposes.

You know what really bothered me? When I was finally understanding this, I began to think, "what if God was leading me for some purpose of His and I rebuked Satan for it"? I would basically have been calling God, Satan! What an awful thought!
Even just the story of Job alone should show us that we can't avoid Satan's attacks by being strong enough, skilled enough or trained in spiritual warfare enough. It shows instead that God is sovereign and that He uses Satan to do His bidding. It also shows us that we need to trust God and go to Him if we need help or have questions about a trial we're going through, or whatever; and that we then need to submit ourselves to His Will regardless of what His answer is. I know I should end this, but as I typed that last line, it reminded me of a key verse in my life... It's what Daniel's friends said when they were about to be thrown into the furnace. (a bad thing, wouldn't you say?) They too didn't use spiritual warfare. Instead, they trusted God with the outcome and literally said they would trust Him and worship Him, no matter what His Will was--whether He decided to rescue them or allowed them to die. They knew that God was sovereign.

Daniel 3:16–18 (NIV) — Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”