John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and even favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
For many centuries, the Church has allowed the enemy to put us back under Law. It's not the Law of Moses, but man-made laws that continue to keep the Church from having the liberty of Christ and having bondage instead. Man has applied his own ideas and made the Word of God of no effect in our lives. The liberty which Jesus brought us into, has been replaced by the deceiver's efforts in the minds and hearts of God's people.
Some churches have man-made dress codes, including not wearing make-up or jewelry. My mother attended such a church and wasn't allowed to cut her hair. Some churches require their members to reject electricity, modern transportation and indoor plumbing. Some churches instruct their members to worship on certain days and forbid their worship from including instruments. My question is, "What does any of this have to do with serving God?"
There's a big difference between loving the world and living life on this earth. Whether or not we choose to believe it, we are still in this world. We might not be of this world, but we're still here until Jesus comes or our physical bodies die. I believe that the bondage the deceiver has placed on God's new creation people, is much worse that the Law that God placed on man.
The first covenant God made with man, was one giving man dominion and authority over everything God had created. The covenant God established with Abraham was one of Grace and favor, because Abraham had faith in God and His Promise. We've entered into the Blessing God Promised Abraham now, so why do we try limiting it to "when we die and leave this earth?" God Blessed Abraham in this earth and God Promised this to Abraham's Seed, when Abraham was no longer here on earth.
We've confused the Spirit of God and His Word, to where we're unable to distinguish between God and the devil. The devil has deceived many in the Church into believing that, "Such Spiritual things as speaking in other tongues, healing, miracles and authority come from him" and "Sickness, poverty, disease and suffering come from God." God's Word is very clear on Who God is and what He does.
Under the new family covenant, God doesn't train and deal with His family with sickness and disease. We've been erroneously taught this and have submitted to the enemy, when it comes to "resisting the devil and he will flee from you." How do you know whether to submit or resist, when you don't know if it's from God or satan? James 1:7 (Amplified) says, "So be subject to God. Resist the devil (stand firm against him) and he will flee from you." In order to do this, you must know when to submit and when to resist.
If you believe that sickness is of God, then if you love God, you will submit to sickness. God's Word tells us that, "By Jesus' stripes we are healed." So, if sickness comes into your life, you must know what God's Word says, instead of relying on what man says. We've allowed satan to undermine God's Word, to where we don't truly believe in prayer any longer. We've invented man-made excuses for "why God doesn't do these things anymore," leaving us to believe our feelings about our own religious laws matter.
Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), "But seek (aim at and strive after), first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." God has a way of doing and being right. God's way is the only way to obtain what He desires to give us. Jesus only did what His Father said and did and what He saw the Father do. Did Jesus see the Father making people sick or making them well? Did Jesus see the Father placing people further under laws or loosing the people from the things tradition had forced upon them? Did Jesus ever hear the Father say, "Leave the people in the same mess you find them in" or "Deliver those who are bound?" Our man-made laws have placed us under more bondage, than the Law of Moses that Jesus came to deliver us from.
There have always been individuals from the past, who stood out by making their own decisions based on God's Word. Enoch walked with God, in a time when no one did. Noah went against everything men believed and was delivered. Abraham chose to believe God and laid the ground for the Messiah, at a time when the people chose other gods. Look at Hebrews 11 and see how many of thee people were completely out-of-step with those around them. Joshua and Caleb were sentenced to be stoned for believing God, instead of going along with the majority. God's way of doing and being right, is not subject to the majority, but by Truth in His Word.
Each individual believer is responsible to seek God for him/herself. We're not to allow someone else to build our relationship with the Father, but we're to see first, God's Kingdom and His way of doing and being right. Many times in Israel's history, the whole of Israel was determined by one or two people who still believed in God. Don't stop praying for America or any other country, just because someone stated that country was doomed under God's judgments. Learn to pray and believe God for yourself and then expect answers to your prayers, because you know God's will and His heart. 1John 5:14-15 (Amplified) tells us, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him, We are sure that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His Own Plan), He listens and hears us. And if since we positively know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know with settled and absolute knowledge that we have granted us as our present possessions the requests made of Him." This is absolute prayer of God's way of doing and being right and not man's ideas of how to handle your disappointment about why God doesn't answer prayer any longer. Find out for yourself.
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